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Mutton Soup

A broth made from a mutton neck with turnips, onions, carrots, barley, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Mutton Soup

Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Mutton Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the broth

  1. Soak the neck of mutton thoroughly.

  2. Place the mutton in a pot half full of water and bring to a boil.

  3. Skim the broth well when it comes to a boil.

Finish the soup

  1. One hour before serving, add the sliced turnips, onions, carrots, and soaked barley.

  2. Shortly before serving, stir in the chopped parsley.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Turnip + carrottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Turnip + barleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together629 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Turnip + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Turnip + oniontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Neck of mutton
Provides the main meat and rich flavour as it simmers into the broth.
Barley
Thickens the broth slightly and adds a soft, chewy texture as it cooks.
Turnips
Add mild sweetness and body to the broth as they become tender.
Onions
Add savoury depth and sweetness to the broth as they soften.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and colour, becoming tender in the simmering broth.

The step that matters

Skim the broth well when it comes to a boil. Foam and fat rise to the surface as the broth heats. Removing them early keeps the soup clear and prevents a greasy, cloudy result.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, turnip, carrot, barley, parsley):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Parsnipfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, turnip, carrot, barley, parsley. 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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