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Scotch Mutton Broth

A hearty broth made from mutton neck, Scotch barley, vegetables, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 25,843 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Scotch Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Soak the neck of mutton in water for 1 hour.

  2. Cut off the scrag.

  3. Place the mutton in a stew pot with 2 quarts of water.

  4. Bring to a boil. Skim well.

  5. Simmer for 1.5 hours.

  6. Cut the best end of the mutton into pieces (2 bones each).

Simmer the broth

  1. Skim the broth when the fresh meat boils up, and every 15 minutes thereafter.

  2. Add the vegetables and onions.

  3. Cook until tender.

  4. Wet the Scotch barley with cold water.

  5. Add the Scotch barley to the pot.

  6. Let the meat stew for 3 hours.

  7. Add salt to taste.

  8. Twenty minutes 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.

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. Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

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

  2. Barley + parsleytop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together630 recipes

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

  3. Barley + oniontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,166 recipes

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

  4. Mutton + barleytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together510 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

  5. Mutton + oniontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,531 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

Mutton neck
Provides the meat and bones that flavour the broth as it simmers.
Scotch barley
Thickens the broth slightly and adds body as its starch releases during cooking.
Vegetables and onions
Add sweetness and aroma to the broth as they cook down.

The step that matters

Skim the broth regularly. Skimming removes foam and coagulated proteins that rise from the meat, keeping the broth clear and free of greasy, off-tasting scum.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Celeryfits better
  3. Thymefits better
  4. Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, barley, onion. 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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