Skip to main content
Main

Stock for White Soup

A clear stock made from ham, veal, vegetables, and spices, simmered for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Stock for White Soup

Why it works: Celery and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Stock for White Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a clean soup pot or large iron saucepan, layer the ham slices and veal pieces.

  2. Add 1 pint of cold water for each pound of meat for a rich soup, or 1.5 pints for a lighter version.

Make the stock

  1. Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that forms.

  2. Add salt, onions, celery, carrots, peppercorns, and mace.

  3. Reduce heat and let the soup simmer gently for 5 to 6 hours, until the meat falls from the bones.

Strain and store

  1. Strain the stock into a clean deep pan and cool before storing.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Carrot + macetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,592 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  5. Veal + carrottop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,015 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal
Collagen-rich knuckle or neck releases gelatin into the liquid, giving the stock body and mouthfeel.
Lean ham
Adds savory, smoky flavor to the broth as it simmers with the meat.
Onions
Release sugars and aromatic compounds that add sweetness and depth to the stock.
Celery
Contributes aromatic compounds that build a savory, vegetal background flavor.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and aroma that round out the stock's flavor.

The step that matters

Skimming after the boil. Scum is coagulated proteins and impurities that rise as the liquid heats. Removing them keeps the stock clear and prevents off flavors from building during the long simmer.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ham, veal, onion, celery, carrot):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, veal, onion, celery, carrot. 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.

You might also like

Carrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipesCream of Celery SoupCream of Celery Soup113 recipesVeal PattiesVeal Patties50 recipesCelery StewCelery Stew25 recipes