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Mutton Broth

A hearty broth made from mutton, barley, carrots, turnip, onion, parsley, and seasoned with salt, cream, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 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. Soak 2 ounces of pearl barley in water overnight.

  2. Trim the fat from 4 pounds of mutton and cut it into large pieces.

  3. Place the mutton and soaked barley in a stewpan with 5 pints of water.

  4. Prepare the vegetables.

Cook

  1. Add the vegetables to the stewpan when the liquid simmers.

  2. Add 2 teaspoons of coarse sea salt.

  3. Let the broth cook gently for 3 hours.

Strain and finish

  1. Strain the liquid into a basin.

  2. Let the liquid cool to remove the fat.

  3. Boil the remaining liquid with the barley.

  4. Dice some of the vegetables.

  5. Add the diced vegetables along with 1 tablespoon of cream and 1 tablespoon of 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. Turnip + barleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together629 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Turnip + oniontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,585 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
Gives the broth its meaty flavor and, as it simmers, a rich body.
Pearl barley
Its starch releases during simmering, thickening the broth and adding a soft texture.
Carrot
Adds natural sweetness and aroma as it softens into the broth.
Turnip
Contributes mild sweetness and earthy aroma as it cooks in the liquid.
Onion
Adds savory depth and aroma as it cooks slowly in the broth.
Cream
Adds fat, which gives the finished broth a smoother, richer mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Let the liquid cool to remove the fat. Fat floats on hot liquid and mixes in if disturbed. When the broth cools, the fat solidifies on the surface, where it can be lifted off cleanly, leaving a lighter broth.

Swap the onion

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

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

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