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Tslchi.

A hearty Russian stew of lamb breast, 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 ↓

Tslchi.

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 broth

  1. Add water to a large pot as you would for a stew.

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

  3. Skim off any foam that rises to the surface.

Cook the stew

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

  2. Stir in the barley or semolina.

  3. Cook the stew for 3 hours.

  4. Add the prunes to the pot.

  5. 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
Gives the broth its rich, meaty flavour as it simmers for hours.
Pearl barley or semolina or wheat grits
Thickens the broth and adds body as its starch releases during cooking.
Prunes
Add sweetness and a deep, fruity note that balances the savoury broth.
Cabbage
Adds bulk and a mild sweetness as it softens in the broth.
Carrots
Contribute natural sweetness and colour to the soup.

The step that matters

Skim off any foam that rises to the surface. Foam is coagulated protein and impurities released from the meat as it heats. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and free of bitter or greasy off-flavours.

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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