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Mutton Broth

A clear broth made from mutton necks, onions, turnip, celery, peppercorns, and sea salt, simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Mutton Broth

Why it works: Turnip and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,418 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the mutton in tepid water and cut it into small pieces.

  2. Place the meat in a stewpan with 4 cups of water for each pound of meat.

  3. If a lighter broth is desired, add an additional 2 cups of water.

  4. Add a pinch of coarse sea salt.

Simmer and skim

  1. Bring to a boil, skim the surface, and repeat until no more scum rises.

  2. If possible, add the onions, turnip, and peppercorns.

  3. One hour before finishing, add the celery.

  4. Simmer gently for 3 hours, then strain the broth.

Cool

  1. If not using immediately, let it cool to allow the fat to rise, or cool quickly by placing the basin in cold water.

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. Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Mutton + oniontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,531 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Mutton + turniptop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,558 recipes

    Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).

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

What each ingredient does

Scrags of necks of mutton
Provides the meat and collagen that give the broth body and rich flavour as it simmers.
Onions
Add sweetness and savoury depth to the broth as they cook slowly.
Turnip
Adds mild sweetness and earthy flavour to the broth.
Celery
Adds a fresh, aromatic vegetable note to the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming the scum as it rises. Scum is coagulated protein and impurities that cloud the broth and can taste bitter. Skimming while the liquid first heats keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, 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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