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Mutton Broth

A hearty broth made with mutton, water, barley, carrots, turnips, thyme, onions, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Mutton Broth

Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

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

  2. Add pearl barley, chopped carrots, turnips, thyme, and onions.

Simmer

  1. Bring to a boil and skim off any grease that rises.

  2. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 to 6 hours.

  3. Add chopped parsley just before serving.

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. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Barley + turniptop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together629 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Turnip + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,842 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
Gives the broth its rich, savory meat flavor and body as it simmers.
Pearl barley
Thickens the broth and adds a soft, chewy texture.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and body to the broth during long simmering.
Onions
Build savory depth and aroma in the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the grease after boiling. Fat that rises during the initial boil would otherwise stay in the broth, making it greasy and cloudy. Removing it early gives a cleaner, lighter result.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Parsnipfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

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