Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Mutton Broth Quickly Made
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the mutton into small pieces, removing any skin or fat.
Place the meat and bones in a saucepan with the water and other ingredients.
Cook and strain
Cover the saucepan and bring to a boil quickly.
Remove the lid and boil rapidly for 20 minutes, skimming off any foam.
Strain the broth into a basin, removing any fat with a piece of thin paper if necessary.
For best results, allow the broth to cool completely to remove fat easily.
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.
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Mutton + oniontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Provides the meat and bones that give the broth its rich, savoury flavour.
- Water
- Serves as the liquid that extracts flavour and gelatin from the meat and bones.
- Sweet herbs
- Add aromatic flavour to the broth as it simmers.
The step that matters
Skimming foam during the rapid boil. Foam is coagulated protein and impurities that rise to the surface during boiling. Skimming it keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting. Removing fat after cooling works the same way, since fat solidifies on top as the broth chills.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, 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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