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Stock for White Soup

A rich stock made from ham and veal simmered for hours with vegetables and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 stout iron saucepan, layer the ham and veal.

  2. Add 4 to 6 quarts of cold water, using 1 pint for each pound of meat for a rich stock.

Simmer

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

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

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

Strain and cool

  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. White pepper + macetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,695 recipes

    Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).

  5. 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
Knuckle or neck releases gelatin and body into the stock as it simmers slowly.
Lean ham
Adds savoury, meaty flavour to the stock during the long simmer.
Onions
Contribute sweetness and aromatic depth to the finished stock.
Celery
Adds aromatic, vegetal background flavour to the stock.
Carrots
Add gentle sweetness and rounding to the stock's flavour.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum after the boil. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities rising from the meat. Removing it early keeps the stock clear and free of off flavours.

Swap the white pepper

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

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