Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓
A Quick Wade Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the fat and skin from the mutton bones.
Place the bones in a small saucepan with ¾ cup of water.
Beat and cut the meat into thin pieces.
Add the meat to the saucepan.
Add thyme, parsley, and onion if desired.
Cook
Bring to a boil quickly, skimming off any foam.
Remove the cover if the broth seems too weak; otherwise, keep it covered.
Cook for 30 minutes.
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.
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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Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,057 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Thyme + oniontop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,171 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together25,843 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Mutton + oniontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,531 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Mutton + parsleytop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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 bones
- Release flavour and gelatin into the water, giving the broth body and richness.
- Mutton meat
- Adds savoury meaty flavour and protein that enriches the broth as it simmers.
The step that matters
Bring to a boil quickly, skimming off any foam. Foam is coagulated protein and impurities that can cloud the broth and taste bitter. Skimming it off as it rises keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.
Swap the onion
The recipe marks onion as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, thyme, parsley):
- Shallotfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, thyme, parsley. 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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