Name: Veal and Sago Broth
Ingredients: 2 lbs knuckle of veal, cracked into pieces; 2 quarts cold water; 3 tablespoons sago, soaked in ½ cup cold water; 1 cup rich milk or cream, heated to boiling; yolks of 2 eggs, well beaten; coarse sea salt, to taste

Why it works: Milk and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Veal and Sago Broth

Ingredients

2 lbs knuckle of veal, cracked into pieces
2 quarts cold water
3 tablespoons sago, soaked in ½ cup cold water
1 cup rich milk or cream, heated to boiling
yolks of 2 eggs, well beaten
coarse sea salt, to taste

Directions

Prepare the broth

In a covered kettle, boil the veal and cold water very slowly until reduced by half.
Strain the broth and season with salt.

Finish and serve

Add the soaked sago, which has been standing in hot water for 30 minutes.
Simmer all together for 30 minutes, being careful not to burn.
Beat in the cream and eggs, then bring to a brief boil.
Transfer to an earthen dish and serve.

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.

Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Veal + milktop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,013 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
Veal + eggtop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,845 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Knuckle of veal: Long, slow simmering releases collagen, giving the broth body and a rich mouthfeel.
Sago: Its starch swells and thickens the broth as it cooks.
Eggs: Beaten yolks enrich the broth and thicken it slightly when heated gently.
Rich milk or cream: Adds fat and richness, softening the broth's flavor and smoothing its texture.

The step that matters

Beat in the cream and eggs, then bring to a brief boil.. Egg yolks can curdle or turn grainy if overheated, so the mixture should be added off the boil and only briefly brought up to heat, keeping it smooth.

“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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Veal and Sago Broth