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Bouillon

A beef broth made by simmering meat, bone, and seasonings for several hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Bouillon

Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,092 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Bouillon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the meat and bone into small pieces.

  2. Add the water and heat slowly.

Simmer and reduce

  1. Add the seasoning and simmer for five hours.

  2. Boil down to three pints.

Finish and serve

  1. Strain, remove the fat, and season with salt and pepper.

  2. Serve in cups.

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. Beef + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,092 recipes

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

  2. Clove + oniontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,901 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  3. Beef + clovetop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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 flavour, which deepens during long, slow simmering.
Bone
Releases gelatin during simmering, giving the broth body and a richer mouthfeel.
Peppercorns
Add a sharp, aromatic warmth to the broth.
Cloves
Add a strong, warm aroma that flavours the broth.
Mixed herbs
Add aromatic, savoury notes that blend into the broth.

The step that matters

Add the water and heat slowly. Starting with cold water and heating gently draws flavour and gelatin out of the meat and bone while keeping the broth clear. Boiling hard churns fat into the liquid and clouds it, so the finished bouillon tastes muddier.

Swap the onion

The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, clove):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Leekfits about as well
  3. Shallotfits about as well
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, 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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