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Mutton Broth, Nourishing and Delicate

A clear broth made from mutton shank, barley, water, and sea salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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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, Nourishing and Delicate

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and simmer

  1. Separate the shank bone from the mutton so it lies flat in the saucepan.

  2. Cover the mutton with cold water.

  3. Stir in the Scotch barley and keep stirring until the water boils.

  4. Remove from heat and let it simmer.

Skim and serve

  1. Add coarse sea salt and skim off any scum that rises.

  2. Strain the broth for use and serve the mutton with the barley around it.

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. Mutton + barleytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Mutton knuckle
Bone and connective tissue release gelatin, giving the broth body and a rich meaty flavor.
Scotch barley
Its starch thickens the broth slightly and adds a soft, chewy texture.

The step that matters

Skim off the scum. Proteins and impurities from the meat rise to the surface as the liquid heats. Removing them keeps the broth clear and stops it tasting muddy.

“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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