Why it works: Mutton and barley work together. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 510 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity. The science ↓
Mutton Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pick over the barley, wash it well in cold water, and soak it in hot water until needed.
Cut the meat from the neck of mutton into small dice, place it in a pot with 2 quarts of cold water, and bring it slowly to a boil, skimming until clear.
Simmer
Add the soaked barley and salt to the broth, then let it simmer gently for 2 hours until the barley is soft.
Serve
If the person is not strong enough to eat the meat, remove it before serving the broth.
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.
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Mutton + barleytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together510 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Neck of mutton
- Gives the broth its rich meaty flavor and body as collagen softens during gentle simmering.
- Pearl barley
- Releases starch as it cooks, thickening the broth and giving soft, chewy grains.
The step that matters
Skimming while bringing the broth to a boil. Proteins and fat from the meat rise as foam when the water heats. Removing this scum as it forms keeps the broth clear, and starting in cold water with slow heating lets the foam separate cleanly.
“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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