Why it works: Pepper and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,012 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Mutton Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the broth
Cut the mutton into small pieces and break up the bones.
Pack the meat and bones in a soup kettle and cover with cold water.
Let it stand until the juices begin to draw, then add more cold water to fill.
Heat gradually until it reaches a steady simmer, then maintain for three hours.
Skim the broth carefully if serving the same day and keep it covered.
Add the rice and seasonings
About 45 minutes before serving, add the rice and onions. Stir well after adding the rice.
After 20 minutes, season with salt, pepper, and optional spices.
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.
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Pepper + celerytop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together16,012 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,518 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Rice + celerytop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,169 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Rice + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,433 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pepper + minttop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,372 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton
- Provides the meat and bones that give the broth its body and rich flavour.
- Rice
- Releases starch as it cooks, thickening the broth and adding body.
- Onions
- Add sweetness and aroma as they soften in the simmering broth.
The step that matters
Maintaining a steady simmer for three hours. Heating gradually and holding a gentle simmer draws flavour and gelatin from the bones and meat slowly. A hard boil would make the broth cloudy and greasy.
Swap the celery
The recipe marks celery as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, rice, onion, pepper, mint):
- Turmericfits better
- Cuminfits about as well
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Celerythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, rice, onion, pepper, mint. 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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