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
Make the broth
In a 2-gallon pot, combine the mutton or sheep's heads with soft water.
Bring to a boil and skim off any foam.
Add the barley or rice and boil for 1 hour.
Add the turnips, carrots, and onions, and continue boiling.
Finish and serve
Half an hour before serving, add small suet dumplings and optional parsley and marigold blossoms.
Boil for a total of 2.5 to 3 hours, until the liquid reduces by one third to half.
Serve the meat on a separate dish and the broth, dumplings, and vegetables in a large tureen.
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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Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Turnip + carrottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Barley + turniptop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together629 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Turnip + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,842 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Turnip + oniontop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton or sheep's heads
- Gives the broth its meaty flavor and body as it simmers.
- Barley or rice
- Releases starch that thickens the broth and adds body.
- Turnips
- Add mild sweetness and substance as they soften in the broth.
- Carrots
- Add sweetness and color while softening in the broth.
- Onions
- Add savory depth and aroma as they cook down into the broth.
- Suet
- Melts into the dumplings, making them rich and tender.
The step that matters
Skimming the foam at the start. Foam rises from proteins and impurities released as the meat heats. Skimming it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy or scummy.
Swap the parsley
The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, barley, turnip, carrot, onion):
- Celeryfits better
- Parsleythe original
- Thymefits about as well
- Cuminfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, barley, turnip, carrot, onion. 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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