Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Mutton Broth Quickly Made
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Remove the fat from the mutton chops and cut the lean meat into small pieces.
Simmer
Place the meat and bones in a saucepan with 1 pint of cold water.
Add the sliced onion, sweet herbs, and season with pepper and salt.
Cover the saucepan and bring to a quick boil.
Remove the lid and continue boiling quickly for 20 minutes, skimming as needed.
Strain and serve
Strain the broth into a basin and serve hot.
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.
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Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together68,474 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Mutton + oniontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,531 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton chops
- Provide the meat and bones that flavour the broth as they simmer in the water.
- Onion
- Adds savoury, aromatic flavour to the broth.
- Sweet herbs
- Add aromatic flavour to the broth.
The step that matters
Skimming during the boil. Fat and foam rise to the surface during boiling. Skimming them removes greasiness and cloudiness, leaving a cleaner, clearer broth.
Swap the onion
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pepper):
- Capsicumfits better
- Carrotfits better
- Tomatofits better
- Onionthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, pepper. 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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