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Mutton Broth

A clear mutton broth made with knuckle and scrag pieces, pearl barley, peppercorns, and salt, garnished with parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Mutton Broth

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 ↓

Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the meat of the knuckle and scrag of mutton into small pieces and break up the bones.

Make the broth

  1. In a clean stewpan, combine 3 pints of water, the meat, broken bones, peppercorns, and pearl barley.

  2. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil, then add the salt as it simmers.

  3. Skim the broth thoroughly and frequently.

  4. After boiling, reduce heat and let it simmer for seven hours.

Strain and serve

  1. Carefully strain the broth through a cloth and let it cool; remove the fat.

  2. Reheat the broth before serving and add finely chopped parsley for garnish.

  3. If desired, add a boiled onion for extra flavor.

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. 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 knuckle and scrag
Provides meat and bones that release flavor and body into the broth during long simmering.
Pearl barley
Thickens the broth slightly and adds a soft, starchy texture as it cooks.

The step that matters

Skimming the broth thoroughly and frequently. Simmering meat and bones throws foam and fat to the surface. Removing it regularly keeps the broth clear and stops it tasting greasy or cloudy.

Swap the onion

The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, barley, parsley):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Turnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, 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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