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P Consomme

A clear consommé made from veal and beef, simmered with vegetables, herbs, and spices, then strained and finished with egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery 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 ↓

P Consomme

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stock

  1. In a large soup pot, melt half of the butter over medium heat.

  2. Cut the meat into very small pieces and add to the pot, stirring until it begins to brown.

  3. Add 1 quart of water and cook until a glaze forms on the bottom of the pot, about 1 hour.

  4. Add the remaining water and bring to a boil, skimming carefully.

  5. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 6 hours.

  6. In a separate pan, fry the finely chopped vegetables in the remaining butter for 30 minutes without burning.

  7. Add the fried vegetables, herbs, and spices to the soup pot and cook for 1 hour longer.

Clarify and finish

  1. Season with salt to taste and strain the soup.

  2. Refrigerate overnight and skim off the fat the next morning.

  3. Reheat the soup, being careful not to disturb the sediment.

  4. Beat the whites and shells of 2 eggs with 1 cup of cold water and stir into the soup.

  5. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes before straining through a fine sieve.

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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

  4. Celery + clovetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,668 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-decalactone (peach, creamy).

  5. Clove + macetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,400 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef and veal
Long simmering breaks down connective tissue and releases flavor and body into the broth.
Butter
Fat for browning the meat and frying the vegetables, adding a rich, toasted flavor.
Onions
Frying them builds sweet, savory depth in the broth.
Egg whites and shells (in the method)
As they heat, they coagulate and trap fine particles, clearing the consommé.

The step that matters

Clarifying with egg whites. Stir the egg mixture in gently and bring it to a boil, then simmer without stirring. Gentle heat lets the egg whites and shells rise and trap fine particles, which leaves a clear broth. Vigorous stirring or boiling too hard breaks up the raft and clouds the soup.

Swap the mace

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, beef, butter, carrot, onion, celery, clove. 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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