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Soup

Mutton Broth

A clear broth made from mutton, vegetables, and pearl barley, seasoned with salt, pepper, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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. Cut the meat into small pieces, removing excess fat.

  2. Place the meat in a saucepan with cold water and salt.

  3. Bring to a boil and skim the surface.

  4. Add the prepared vegetables and washed pearl barley.

  5. Boil for two hours.

Finish

  1. Remove the meat, cut it into small pieces, and discard the bones.

  2. Return the meat to the soup, reheat, and add more salt if necessary.

  3. Stir in the finely chopped parsley.

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  4. Turnip + barleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together629 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Turnip + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,842 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

Neck of mutton
Provides the meat and rich flavour that the broth is built on.
Pearl barley
Thickens the broth slightly and adds body as it cooks.
Carrot
Adds sweetness and aroma to the broth as it simmers.
Turnip
Adds mild sweetness and body to the broth.
Onion
Adds savoury depth and aroma to the broth.

The step that matters

Skim the surface after bringing to a boil. Foam and fat rise to the top as the meat heats. Skimming removes impurities and excess fat, keeping the broth clear and less greasy.

Swap the onion

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, carrot, turnip, barley, pepper, 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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