Name: Broth
Ingredients: coarsest pieces of meat; water; oatmeal (optional); milk (optional); rice, Scotch or pearl barley, or crust of bread (optional)

Why it works: Milk and rice are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,374 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Cut the meat into small pieces and break large bones.
Place the meat in a pot and cover with plenty of water.
Bring to a boil and simmer until the meat is tender and separates from the bones.
Skim the broth frequently during boiling.
If desired, add oatmeal or milk for thickness, or rice, barley, or bread crust to cook until tender.

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.

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.

Milk + ricetop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,374 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Meat + ricetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,481 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Meat + milktop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,703 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).