Why it works: Carrot and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,002 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Place the meat in a saucepan and cover with cold water.
Add salt and pearl barley or rice.
Bring to a boil slowly, then skim off any foam.
If the patient can have vegetables, add chopped carrot and turnip.
Simmer very slowly for 2 to 3 hours.
Finish and serve
Remove the meat and vegetables, then skim off the fat from the broth.
Serve the broth with a thin slice of toast.
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.
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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Barley + turniptop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together629 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Barley + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together784 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Meat + barleytop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together224 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Meat + carrottop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,905 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
- Meat
- Releases flavour and gelatin into the water, giving the broth body and savour.
- Pearl barley or rice
- Thickens the broth slightly as its starch releases during simmering.
- Carrot
- Adds natural sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth.
- Turnip
- Contributes mild sweetness and earthy flavour to the broth.
The step that matters
Bring to a boil slowly, then skim off any foam. Rapid boiling churns foam and impurities into the liquid, making the broth cloudy and greasy. Starting gently and skimming keeps it clear and clean-tasting.
Swap the carrot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, barley, turnip):
- Leekfits better
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Parsnipfits about as well
- Carrotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against meat, barley, turnip. 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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