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Mutton Soup

A hearty soup made with mutton, turnips, noodles, barley, parsley, pepper, and salt.

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

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Mutton Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mince the vegetables.

  2. Put the minced vegetables in a pot with water.

  3. Boil down to two quarts.

  4. Drain off the liquid.

  5. Pour the liquid over the minced mutton.

Simmer and finish

  1. Simmer for one hour, then strain.

  2. Season.

  3. Add the noodles.

  4. Cook gently for twenty minutes.

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Parsley + barleytop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together630 recipes

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

  5. Turnip + peppertop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,252 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

Mutton
Cracked bones and meat give the broth its rich, savoury flavour and body.
Barley
Absorbs liquid and softens, adding chewy texture and thickening the soup.
Turnips
Break down during boiling, adding mild sweetness and body to the broth.
Noodles
Release starch as they cook, adding body and a soft, tender bite.

The step that matters

Cook gently for twenty minutes. Once the noodles are added, a vigorous boil makes them break apart and turn mushy. A gentle simmer cooks them evenly while keeping their texture intact and the broth clear.

Swap the parsley

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

  1. Thymefits about as well
  2. Celeryfits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Marjoramfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, meat, turnip, pepper, barley. 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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