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A stock made by simmering beef, veal, hens, and aromatics for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Leek and chervil match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 148 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Cooking-stock

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the meats

  1. Cut the beef and veal into pieces.

  2. Place the meats in a large stockpot.

  3. Add the hens and giblets, then cover with water or second broth.

Make the broth

  1. Heat the stockpot on the fire and skim the liquid carefully.

  2. Once it bubbles, remove it from the heat.

  3. After one hour, add carrots, leeks, chervil, parsley, cloves, and peppercorns.

  4. Continue to simmer gently.

  5. Once the meats are cooked, remove them from the pot.

  6. Strain the broth through a sieve and skim off the fat.

  7. Let the broth settle, then decant it into two saucepans.

Reduce and store

  1. Reduce the broth over high heat until slightly thickened.

  2. Mix the two parts in a narrow stewpan and skim until it reaches a light sauce consistency.

  3. Pour into vessels and store for later use.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Leek + cherviltop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together148 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Chervil + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together774 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Carrot + leektop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,310 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Veal + livertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together392 recipes

    Shared aroma: enoic acid (butter, cheesy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Leg of beef
Provides the main meaty flavour and body to the stock as it simmers.
Veal
Adds gelatin-rich body and a delicate flavour to the finished stock.
Hens
Contribute savoury flavour and body to the broth during long simmering.
Carrots
Add gentle sweetness and aromatic depth to the stock.
Leeks
Add mild onion-like sweetness and aroma to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the liquid as it heats. Impurities and proteins rise to the surface as the liquid warms. Removing them early keeps the stock clear and prevents a cloudy, greasy result.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, veal, liver, carrot, leek, chervil, parsley):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, veal, liver, carrot, leek, chervil, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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