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Soup

Mutton Broth

A clear broth made from mutton shanks and neck, simmered with vegetables, allspice, thyme, barley, pepper, and sea salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Mutton Broth

Why it works: Allspice and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,077 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Place the shanks and neck of mutton in a pot with cold water.

  2. Add the chopped carrot, onion, and turnip.

  3. Season with allspice and thyme or marjoram.

  4. Simmer gently for two hours.

  5. Strain the broth.

Finish and serve

  1. Return the broth to the heat.

  2. Remove any scum and fat.

  3. Add the boiled pearl barley and season with pepper and coarse sea salt.

  4. Bring to a boil and 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. Allspice + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,077 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Carrot + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,563 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Turnip + thymetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,352 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

Shanks and neck of mutton
Provide the meat and bones that give the broth its body and rich flavour as they simmer.
Carrot
Adds subtle sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth during simmering.
Onion
Contributes savoury, aromatic flavour that builds the base of the broth.
Turnip
Adds mild sweetness and earthy flavour to the broth.
Pearl barley
Adds soft, chewy texture and thickens the broth slightly as it sits.

The step that matters

Remove any scum and fat. Scum and fat rise to the surface during simmering. Skimming them keeps the broth clear and stops it tasting greasy or muddy.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, carrot, turnip, allspice, thyme, 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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