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Mutton Broth

A hearty broth made from mutton, oatmeal, vegetables, and herbs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Mutton Broth

Why it works: Turnip and leek match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Make the broth

  1. Combine mutton pieces and cold beef broth or water with oatmeal in a stewpot.

  2. Add diced turnips, chopped onion, leeks, celery, thyme, and parsley.

  3. Bring to a boil and skim off any foam.

  4. Remove a piece of mutton when nearly done and set aside.

  5. Continue boiling the remaining mutton until tender.

Finish and serve

  1. Prepare additional diced turnips, leeks, celery, chopped cabbage, and marigolds.

  2. Strain the broth and serve with the reserved mutton.

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. Turnip + leektop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

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

  4. Leek + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together360 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Turnip + celerytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,418 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 neck
Gives the broth its meaty flavor and body as it simmers.
Oatmeal
Thickens the broth slightly as it cooks.
Turnips
Add mild sweetness and soften into the broth as it simmers.
Leeks
Contribute a mild onion-like aroma and sweetness to the broth.
Cabbage
Adds bulk and a mild sweetness as it cooks through.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam. Foam carries impurities and fat from the meat; removing it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, beef, turnip, leek, celery, thyme, parsley):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Parsnipfits better
  3. Shallotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, beef, turnip, leek, celery, 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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