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Broth, Strengthening

A hearty mutton broth with rice, turnip, and optional celery, simmered for hours to produce a strengthening soup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Turnip and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,418 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Broth, Strengthening

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. In a large pot, combine the mutton and water.

  2. Bring to a boil, then skim off any foam.

  3. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

Finish and serve

  1. Add the rice, turnip, and celery if desired.

  2. Continue to simmer for 2 hours.

  3. Strain the broth, discarding the fat.

  4. Season with salt and 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.

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 + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Rice + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,169 recipes

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

  3. Rice + turniptop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together824 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Mutton + ricetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,019 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Mutton + turniptop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,558 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mutton scrag end
Releases flavor and gelatin into the water, giving the broth body and savor.
Washed rice
Thickens the broth as its starch swells and softens during simmering.
Turnip
Adds mild sweetness and soft texture as it cooks down into the broth.

The step that matters

Skim off any foam after boiling. Foam carries impurities and proteins from the meat that would cloud and taint the broth. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the celery

The recipe marks celery as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, rice, turnip):

  1. Turmericfits about as well
  2. Capersfits about as well
  3. Celerythe original
  4. Parsleyfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, rice, turnip. 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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