Name: Francatelli's Mutton Broth
Ingredients: 1 pound scrag end of neck of mutton, chopped; 2 ounces barley; 1 quart water; Coarse sea salt, to taste; Thyme, to taste; Parsley, to taste; 2 turnips, chopped; Brown toast, for serving

Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Francatelli's Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

In a saucepan, combine the chopped mutton, barley, and water.
Bring the mixture to a gentle boil, skimming off any foam.
Season with salt, thyme, parsley, and turnips.
Simmer gently on low heat for 1.5 hours.

Strain and serve

Strain the broth through a fine strainer into a basin.
Serve the broth with some of the meat and barley, and a bit of brown toast.

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.

Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Barley + turniptop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together629 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Parsley + turniptop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,842 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Thyme + turniptop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,352 recipes

Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Barley + thymetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together189 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton: Releases flavour and gelatin into the water, giving the broth body and savoury depth.
Barley: Thickens the broth slightly as its starch releases during simmering.
Turnips: Add mild sweetness and earthy flavour to the broth as they soften.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam at the boil. Foam carries coagulated proteins and impurities that can cloud the broth and taste bitter. Removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-flavoured.

Swap the parsley

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

Marjoramfits better
Parsleythe original
Celeryfits about as well
Capersfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, barley, thyme, turnip. 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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Francatelli's Mutton Broth