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Mutton Broth

A hearty mutton broth made with mutton, water, turnips, leeks, celery, parsley, rice, thyme, salt, and pepper.

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

Why it works: Turnip and leek match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Combine the mutton pieces and water in a pot.

  2. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam.

Simmer

  1. Add the chopped turnips, leeks, celery, parsley, rice, thyme, salt, and pepper.

  2. Reduce heat and simmer gently for about 2 hours until ready to serve.

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. Turnip + leektop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

  4. Leek + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together360 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

Mutton
Gives the broth its rich, meaty flavour as it simmers.
Rice
Thickens the broth slightly as its starch releases during simmering.
Turnips
Add sweetness and body to the broth as they soften.
Leeks
Contribute a mild onion-like aroma and sweetness to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam after boiling. Foam is made of denatured proteins and impurities that rise to the surface. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and prevents a scummy, cloudy taste.

Swap the celery

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, turnip, leek, parsley, rice, thyme, pepper):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Winter savoryfits better
  3. Celerythe original
  4. Capersfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, turnip, leek, parsley, rice, thyme, 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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