Why it works: Barley and pepper work together. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 897 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Chicken Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Make the broth
Crack the bones of the fowl and place it in a pot with the cold water.
Cover and boil for 3 to 4 hours.
Strain the broth, let it cool, then remove all fat.
Finish and serve
Soak the pearl barley in lukewarm water.
Add the soaked barley and milk to the broth and simmer until the barley is cooked.
Season lightly with salt and pepper, and serve with crackers or dry toast.
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.
-
Barley + peppertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together897 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Barley + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together598 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
-
Milk + peppertop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together26,984 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Fowl
- Its bones and meat release flavour and body into the water as it simmers.
- Pearl barley
- Softens as it cooks and thickens the broth slightly, adding body.
- Milk
- Adds richness and a mild creamy softness to the broth.
The step that matters
Remove all fat after straining. Fat rising from the cooled broth would make it greasy and heavy; chilling lets the fat solidify on the surface so it can be lifted off cleanly.
“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.
More chicken broth recipes
You might also like
Cream of Barley Soup10 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.