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Scotch Broth

A hearty soup made with mutton neck, barley, vegetables, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Scotch Broth

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 ↓

Scotch Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. In a large pot, bring 4 quarts of cold water to a boil.

  2. Add ½ cup of barley and skim the surface.

  3. Add the neck of mutton and boil for 30 minutes, skimming again.

Finish the soup

  1. Chop the carrots, onion, cabbage, parsley, and celery top finely.

  2. Add the chopped vegetables to the pot along with pepper and coarse sea salt to taste.

  3. Cook the soup for an additional 2 hours.

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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Parsley + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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 meat and bones that flavour the broth as they simmer.
Barley
Releases starch as it cooks, thickening the broth and giving it body.
Cabbage
Adds bulk and a mild sweetness as it softens during the long simmer.
Carrots
Contribute natural sweetness and colour to the broth as they soften.

The step that matters

Skimming the surface. Skimming removes foam and impurities that rise as the broth first boils, keeping it clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against barley, mutton, carrot, cabbage, parsley, celery, pepper. 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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