Why it works: Barley and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 630 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Mutton Broth
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Wash the mutton well until clean.
Place the meat in a large saucepan with 3 pints of cold water and bring to a boil.
Wash the pearl barley or rice in cold water.
Once the water boils, add the barley or rice and ¼ teaspoon of salt to help the scum rise.
Simmer the broth
Reduce heat and let it simmer gently for 2.5 hours, skimming occasionally.
Make the parsley sauce
If the meat is needed immediately, prepare the sauce.
Wash and finely chop the parsley.
Melt ½ oz of butter in a saucepan.
Stir in ½ oz of flour until smooth.
Take ½ cup of broth from the mutton and pour it into the butter and flour mixture, stirring until it boils and thickens.
Add the chopped parsley to the sauce and keep warm until needed.
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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Barley + parsleytop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together630 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Barley + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together582 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mutton + barleytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together510 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton
- Provides the meat and flavour that gives the broth its body and richness.
- Pearl barley or rice
- Adds body and thickens the broth as its starch releases during simmering.
- Butter
- Carries flavour and forms the base of the roux that thickens the sauce.
- Flour
- Thickens the butter into a roux that gives the sauce its smooth, body-rich texture.
The step that matters
Stirring the roux and broth until thickened. Adding the broth to the butter and flour mixture while stirring keeps lumps from forming. Bringing it to a boil activates the flour's starch so the sauce thickens properly.
Swap the parsley
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, barley, butter, flour):
- Capersfits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Turmericfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, barley, butter, flour. 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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