Name: Barley Broth
Ingredients: 1 cup barley; 4 cups water; 1 lb boiled meat; 2 cups potatoes, diced; Salt to taste; Pepper to taste

Why it works: Barley and potato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 165 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Barley Broth

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

Rinse the barley under cold water.
In a pot, combine barley and water; bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

Finish and serve

Add boiled meat and diced potatoes; cook until potatoes are tender.
Season with salt and pepper before serving.

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.

Barley + potatotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together165 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,305 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Barley + peppertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together897 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Barley + meattop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together224 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Meat + potatotop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together786 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Barley: Provides the main body and chewy texture as it absorbs water and softens during simmering.
Potatoes: Add starch and soft texture, thickening the broth slightly as they cook.