Why it works: Mutton and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,019 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Mutton Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mutton
Remove all fat and skin from the mutton pieces.
Place the mutton in a clean saucepan with 1 pint of cold water and the salt.
Cover with a lid and place by the fire to slowly come to a boil.
Simmer the broth
Skim the broth carefully and let it simmer for 2 hours, skimming occasionally.
Rinse the rice and add it with the remaining 1 pint of water to the broth.
Let everything simmer again for 1 hour.
Strain and serve
Strain the broth and set it aside to cool, allowing any fat to rise to the surface.
Remove the fat with a heated spoon before serving.
Serve hot with thin dry toast cut into strips.
Optionally, add a small carrot, a piece of onion, or a few herbs for flavor.
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.
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Mutton + ricetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,019 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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 meaty flavor and body as it simmers.
- Rice
- Thickens the broth slightly as its starch releases during simmering.
The step that matters
Skimming the broth. Foam and fat rise to the surface as the broth heats. Skimming them early keeps the broth clear and stops it tasting greasy.
“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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