Skip to main content
Main

Scotch Broth

A hearty soup of mutton, barley, vegetables, and herbs simmered in water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Scotch Broth

Why it works: Leek and turnip 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 ↓

Scotch Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Combine diced mutton with 2 ½ cups of cold water and an additional pint of water in a stewpan.

  2. Add salt and pearl barley, bring to a boil, and skim off any foam.

  3. Add cabbage, carrots, and leek, then bring back to a boil.

  4. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.

  5. Add diced turnip and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove any pieces of bone, pour the broth into a tureen, and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

  2. Season with additional salt and pepper if needed, then 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. Leek + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Barley + leektop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together142 recipes

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

  4. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Cabbage + turniptop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together897 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton
Provides rich meaty flavor and savory body to the broth as it simmers.
Pearl barley
Releases starch as it cooks, thickening the broth and adding a chewy texture.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and color while holding their shape through long simmering.
Cabbage
Contributes mild sweetness and tender body to the broth.
Turnip
Adds a slightly sweet, peppery note and soft texture to the broth.
Leek
Adds a mild onion-like aroma and sweetness to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam after the first boil. Foam is coagulated protein and impurities rising from the meat; removing it keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy or greasy.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, barley, carrot, leek, parsley, turnip):

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Beetrootfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, barley, carrot, leek, parsley, 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.

You might also like

Mutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesCarrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipesRed CabbageRed Cabbage65 recipesHaricot MuttonHaricot Mutton59 recipes