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Clear Soup

A clear soup made with stock, tarragon vinegar, egg whites, and sherry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Clear Soup

Why it works: Tarragon and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,547 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Clear Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the stock

  1. Remove all fat from the stock.

  2. Combine stock, tarragon vinegar, and seasoning in a saucepan over medium heat until warm, but not boiling.

Clarify and finish

  1. Slightly beat the egg whites and shells with a little cold water.

  2. Add the egg mixture to the soup and whisk until boiling.

  3. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes.

  4. Strain the soup and add sherry.

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. Tarragon + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,547 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Vinegar + sherrytop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together660 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Tarragon + sherrytop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together158 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Tarragon + eggtop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,789 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

  5. Sherry + eggtop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites and shells
Their proteins bind to cloudy particles as they heat, forming a raft that clarifies the soup.
Stock
Forms the body of the soup, so removing its fat first keeps it clear.
Sherry
Adds aroma and a touch of sweetness and depth, added after clarifying so it is not disturbed.

The step that matters

Whisking the egg mixture into the boiling soup. Egg proteins must be whisked in evenly as the liquid heats so they coagulate into a raft that traps cloudy particles. If the soup is stirred vigorously or the raft is broken up after forming, the clarification fails and the soup stays cloudy.

“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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