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Mutton Broth

A clear broth made from mutton, barley, onion, carrot, and parsley.

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

Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the mutton into neat joints.

  2. Wash the barley.

Make the broth

  1. In a saucepan, combine mutton, barley, diced vegetables, water, and a little salt.

  2. Bring to a boil, then skim and simmer gently for about 2.5 hours.

  3. Do not add any marrow to the soup.

Serve

  1. When ready to serve, pour into a soup tureen and sprinkle parsley on top.

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 + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,555 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Barley + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together784 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton
Provides meat flavour and gelatin, giving the broth body as it simmers slowly.
Pearl barley
Releases starch as it cooks, thickening the broth and adding a soft, chewy texture.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aroma as it softens and releases flavour into the liquid.
Carrot
Adds subtle sweetness and colour while softening into the broth.

The step that matters

Skimming after the boil. Skimming off the foam that rises at the start keeps the broth clear and free of impurities. Simmering gently rather than boiling hard prevents cloudiness and keeps the meat tender.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, barley, carrot, parsley, 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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