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Soup

Mutton Broth

A clear broth made by simmering mutton bones with vegetables and herbs, strained and seasoned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Mutton Broth

Why it works: Carrot and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,002 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Break the bones of the mutton well.

Simmer the broth

  1. Place the mutton in a pot with cold water, carrot, turnip, onion, and marjoram or basil.

  2. Simmer for three hours.

Finish

  1. Strain the broth over the barley.

  2. Remove all the fat from the broth.

  3. Season with pepper and coarse sea salt.

  4. If using rice, boil it separately until tender.

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Carrot + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together687 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Turnip + marjoramtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together367 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mutton
Provides the meat flavor and rich body as its collagen and fat enrich the broth during long simmering.
Barley or rice
Adds body and substance to the broth, turning it into a more filling soup.
Carrot
Adds gentle sweetness and aroma to the broth as it simmers.
Turnip
Adds mild sweetness and earthy aroma to the broth.
Onion
Adds savory depth and aroma as its sugars and flavor compounds release into the broth.

The step that matters

Remove all the fat from the broth. Fat rises and collects on the surface of a long-simmered stock and can make the broth greasy and heavy on the palate. Chilling or skimming it off before serving gives a cleaner, lighter result.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, carrot, turnip, marjoram, pepper, barley. 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.

More mutton broth recipes

Scotch 33with Chops 5Jelly 3with Roots 3 See all 391 →

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