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Scotch Mutton Broth

A hearty broth made with mutton, Scotch barley, leeks, onions, turnips, celery, carrots, parsley, and thyme.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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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 Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Place the mutton in a stewpan with 3 quarts of water.

  2. Add the Scotch barley, leeks, onions, parsley, and thyme.

  3. Bring to a boil and skim the surface.

  4. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 hours, then skim again.

  5. Add boiling water if the broth is too thick.

  6. Add turnips, celery, and carrots.

  7. Simmer for another 1.5 hours, until the barley is almost fully dissolved.

Serve

  1. Cut the meat into pieces.

  2. Serve with the broth or separately.

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. Leek + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

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

  4. Parsley + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

  5. Leek + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together360 recipes

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

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 meaty flavor as it simmers.
Scotch barley
Releases starch as it cooks, thickening the broth and giving it body.
Leeks
Add a mild onion-like sweetness and aroma to the broth.
Onions
Add sweetness and aroma as they soften into the broth.
Turnips
Soften during long simmering, adding mild sweetness and body.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and color to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the surface. Skimming removes foam and fat that rise as the broth comes to a boil and simmers. Removing them keeps the broth clear and prevents a greasy, cloudy result.

Swap the onion

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

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

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