Why it works: Veal and ham are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and 3,264 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Vermicelli Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the broth
Break the knuckle of veal into small bits and cover with cold water.
Add ½ teaspoon of coarse sea salt and boil until the meat is in shreds, about 1 hour.
For added flavor, boil a ham bone in the soup for 20 minutes before straining.
Strain the liquid and set aside to cool.
Serve
When ready to serve, bring the liquid to a boil.
Add ⅓ cup of vermicelli and salt to taste, then boil for 10 minutes.
In a tureen, pour in 1 cup of thin cream, add the soup, stir quickly, and serve.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Veal + hamtop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together3,264 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Cream + hamtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,370 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Veal + creamtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together3,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Veal knuckle
- Breaks down into shreds during long simmering, giving the broth body and meaty flavor.
- Vermicelli
- Thin pasta that softens in the hot broth and gives the soup its substance.
- Thin cream
- Adds richness and a mellow, smooth texture to the broth.
The step that matters
Stir quickly when adding the soup to the cream. Adding hot soup to cream while stirring disperses the cream evenly and keeps it from curdling or separating in one spot.
“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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