Skip to main content
Main

Mutton Broth

A clear broth made from mutton, vegetables, and pearl barley, simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
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. Remove all fat from the mutton and cut the meat into small pieces.

  2. In a stewpan, combine the cold water, mutton, bones, and a little salt.

Cook the broth

  1. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil.

  2. Skim off any foam.

  3. If using pearl barley, blanch it by placing it in cold water.

  4. Bring the pearl barley to a boil.

  5. After the broth has cooked for about 1 hour, add the diced vegetables and pearl barley.

  6. Simmer the broth gently for about 3 hours.

Strain and clean

  1. Strain the broth.

  2. Return the strained broth to the saucepan.

  3. Carefully remove any bone fragments from the meat, vegetables, and pearl barley.

  4. Return the bone fragments to the broth.

  5. Bring the broth to a boil.

Season and serve

  1. Sprinkle in the parsley.

  2. Season to taste.

  3. Serve hot.

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. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton
Gives the broth its rich, meaty flavour and body as it simmers with the bones.
Pearl barley
Releases starch during long simmering, giving the broth a thicker, more substantial texture.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aromatic depth as it softens in the broth.
Carrot
Adds gentle sweetness and colour to the broth.
Celery
Contributes a fresh, savoury aroma to the broth.
Turnip
Adds mild sweetness and body to the vegetables in the broth.

The step that matters

Bring the mixture slowly to a boil and skim the foam. Starting in cold water and heating gently lets proteins and impurities rise slowly as foam. Skimming them off keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy.

Swap the onion

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

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

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

More mutton broth recipes

Scotch 33with Chops 5Jelly 3with Roots 3 See all 391 →

You might also like

Carrot SoupCarrot Soup134 recipesCream of Celery SoupCream of Celery Soup113 recipesHaricot MuttonHaricot Mutton59 recipesMutton SoupMutton Soup56 recipes