IllustrationWhy it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 34,118 recipes mention both. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Put the mutton into a stewpan.
Pour the water cold over the mutton.
Add the onion, herbs, turnip, pepper, and salt.
When the broth boils, skim it very carefully.
Cover the pan closely.
Let it simmer very gently for an hour.
Strain the broth.
Let the broth cool.
Take off all the fat from the surface.
Serve
Warm up the broth as much as may be required, adding a teaspoonful of minced scalded parsley if the patient is allowed to take it.
If adding pearl barley or rice, boil them as long as the other ingredients.
When barley or rice is added, do not strain the broth, merely skim it thoroughly.
For plain mutton broth without seasoning, boil the mutton, water, and salt together.
Strain the broth.
Let the broth cool.
Skim all the fat off.
Warm up as much as required.
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. See the original page.
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Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together34,118 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Parsley + turniptop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,842 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + turniptop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together7,584 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Parsley + oniontop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together25,834 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + peppertop 6% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together68,463 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
- Mutton (in the method)
- Gives the broth its meaty flavour and rich body as it simmers.
- Turnip
- Adds mild sweetness and aroma to the broth as it simmers.
- Onion
- Adds savoury aroma and depth of flavour to the broth.
The step that matters
Skimming the broth as it boils. Proteins and impurities rise to the surface as the broth heats. Skimming them carefully keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting, and removing fat after cooling avoids a greasy result.
Flavor stand-ins for the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, turnip, pepper):
- Carrotbetter flavor fit
- Parsnipbetter flavor fit
- Cabbagebetter flavor fit
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, turnip, pepper. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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