Why it works: Celery and turnip are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,418 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Bkep Stock
Ingredients
Directions
Place the beef, shin of beef, neck of mutton, and knuckle of veal in a large pot with 2 quarts of cold water.
Bring to a boil quickly, then skim off any foam.
Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours.
Add celery, peppercorns, onion, turnip, and salt.
Simmer for an additional hour.
Strain the stock before using.
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.
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Celery + turniptop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,418 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,092 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Beef + muttontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,373 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Beef
- Provides the main meaty flavor and dissolving gelatin that gives the stock body.
- Shin of beef
- Its connective tissue breaks down during long simmering, adding body and richness to the stock.
- Neck of mutton
- Adds collagen and savory depth that thickens the stock as it simmers.
- Knuckle of veal
- Bones and connective tissue release gelatin, giving the finished stock a silky mouthfeel.
The step that matters
Skim off the foam after bringing to a boil. Foam carries coagulated proteins and impurities; removing it early keeps the stock clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy or greasy.
Swap the celery
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, mutton, veal, onion, turnip):
- Garlicfits about as well
- Celerythe original
- Capersfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, mutton, veal, onion, turnip. 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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