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Barley Broth

A hearty veal and barley soup simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Celery and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,810 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Barley Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Break the bones into splinters and chop the meat.

  2. Mince the vegetables and put all into a soup kettle with the water.

Make the broth

  1. Boil slowly for three hours until the liquid has reduced by one-third.

  2. Meanwhile, wash the barley and boil it in salted water for half an hour.

  3. Strain the soup and cool it to let the fat rise, then remove the fat.

Finish and serve

  1. Season the soup with salt and pepper, then bring it to a boil.

  2. Skim the soup, add the barley, and cook gently for another half hour.

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. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  3. Turnip + barleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together629 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 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

Knuckle of veal
Releases gelatin and savory flavor into the broth, giving body as it simmers.
Scotch barley
Thickens the broth and adds a chewy texture as its starch softens during cooking.
Onion
Adds aromatic sweetness and depth as it softens and cooks into the broth.
Turnip
Contributes mild sweetness and earthy flavor to the broth as it cooks.
Celery
Adds aromatic, savory flavor to the broth as it simmers.

The step that matters

Cooling and removing the fat after straining. Fat floats and solidifies as the broth cools, so it can be lifted off cleanly. Skimming before cooling leaves greasy broth, while skipping the removal leaves an oily texture.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (veal, beef, turnip, celery, parsley, barley, pepper):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against veal, beef, turnip, celery, parsley, barley, pepper. 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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