Name: Stock Fob White Soup
Ingredients: 1 lb lean ham, sliced; 7 lbs veal, washed and cut into pieces; 4 to 6 quarts cold water; 1 ½ oz coarse sea salt (more if needed); 2 mild onions, chopped; 1 head celery, chopped; 2 carrots, chopped; 1 teaspoon whole white pepper; 2 blades of mace

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 Fob White Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

Place the ham in a clean soup pot or large iron saucepan.
Add the veal and pour in 1 pint of water for each pound of meat, or 1 ½ pints for a lighter soup.

Simmer

Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that forms.
Add salt, onions, celery, carrots, white pepper, and mace.
Reduce heat and let the soup simmer gently for 5 to 6 hours until the meat falls off the bones.

Strain and store

Strain the soup into a clean pan and store in a cool place until needed.

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.

Celery + carrottop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together10,173 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together21,601 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
White pepper + macetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,695 recipes

Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
Carrot + macetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,592 recipes

Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

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

What each ingredient does

Veal: Breaks down during long simmering to release gelatin, giving the broth body and a rich mouthfeel.
Lean ham: Adds savory, salty depth to the broth as it simmers with the meat.
Onions: Build the aromatic base and add subtle sweetness as they soften in the broth.
Celery: Contributes savory, vegetal aroma that rounds out the broth's flavor.
Carrots: Add gentle sweetness and color to the broth during the long simmer.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum after the boil. Foam that forms at the boil contains coagulated proteins and impurities; removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy or greasy.

Swap the white pepper

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

Parsleyfits better
Marjoramfits better
Thymefits better
White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against ham, veal, onion, celery, carrot, mace. 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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Celery Stew25 recipes

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Stock Fob White Soup