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To Make Mutton Broth

A simple broth made by simmering mutton neck, onion, herbs, turnip, and seasonings in water.

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

Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

To Make Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Place the mutton in a stewpan and add the cold water.

  2. Add the onion, sweet herbs, turnip, pepper, and salt.

Simmer

  1. Bring to a boil, skim carefully, cover, and let simmer gently for 1 hour.

Strain and serve

  1. Strain the broth and let it cool, then remove the fat from the surface.

  2. Reheat the broth as needed, adding minced parsley if desired.

  3. For added texture, boil pearl barley or rice with the broth without straining.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Turnip + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton neck
Gives the broth its meaty flavour and body as it simmers.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aromatic depth to the broth.
Turnip
Contributes mild sweetness and earthy flavour to the broth.
Pearl barley or rice
Thickens the broth and adds texture when boiled in it.

The step that matters

Skim carefully after the boil. Fat and fine foam rise to the surface as the broth heats. Skimming them early keeps the broth clear and stops it tasting greasy, which is easier than removing them later.

Swap the parsley

The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, onion, turnip, pepper, barley):

  1. Celeryfits about as well
  2. Thymefits about as well
  3. Parsleythe original
  4. Capersfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, onion, turnip, 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.

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