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Tstchi.

A hearty lamb breast stew with cabbage, carrots, onions, barley, and prunes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Fennel and carrot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 330 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Tstchi.

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare the pot

  1. In a large pot, add water as you would for a stew.

  2. Add the lamb breast, fennel, peppercorns, and salt.

  3. Skim off any foam that forms.

Cook

  1. Once boiling, add the cabbage, carrots, and diced onions.

  2. Stir in the pearl barley, semolina, or wheat grits.

  3. Cook for 3 hours.

  4. Add the prunes and cook for an additional hour.

Serve

  1. Serve the soup with the meat on the side.

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.

  1. Fennel + carrottop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together330 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Carrot + barleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together784 recipes

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

  3. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

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

  4. Cabbage + carrottop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,505 recipes

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

  5. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Lamb breast
Releases rich flavour and gelatin into the broth as it simmers slowly.
Pearl barley
Thickens the broth and adds a chewy, starchy body as it cooks.
Prunes
Add natural sweetness and a deep, slightly tart fruitiness to the broth.
Cabbage
Adds bulk and a mild sweetness as it softens in the broth.
Onions
Build savoury depth and sweetness as they soften in the broth.

The step that matters

Skim off the foam. Foam rising at the start contains coagulated proteins and impurities that cloud the broth and can taste bitter. Removing it early keeps the soup clear and clean-flavoured.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, fennel, carrot, onion, barley):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Turnipfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, fennel, carrot, onion, barley. 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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