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Mutton Broth

A clear broth made from mutton, water, barley or sago, and parsley, optionally with onion, carrot, and turnip.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Mutton Broth

Why it works: Barley and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 630 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the mutton into small pieces and trim off the fat.

  2. Place the mutton in a saucepan with the water and add salt.

  3. Bring to a boil slowly, skimming well.

Simmer and serve

  1. Add the barley or sago and simmer gently for about three hours, skimming as needed.

  2. Add the chopped parsley before serving.

  3. If desired, add a small onion, half a small carrot, and a turnip, all chopped and cooked in the broth.

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. Barley + parsleytop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together630 recipes

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

  2. Mutton + barleytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together510 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

  3. Mutton + parsleytop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,915 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 scrag end
Provides meaty flavour and gelatin that gives the broth body as it simmers.
Pearl barley or sago
Its starch thickens the broth and adds a soft, substantial texture.
Water
Forms the broth base and extracts flavour from the meat during long simmering.

The step that matters

Bring to a boil slowly, skimming well. Heating gradually and skimming off the foam and scum keeps the broth clear and free of off-flavours. Rapid boiling would emulsify fat and fine particles into a cloudy liquid.

Swap the parsley

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, 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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