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Scotch Broth

A hearty mutton soup with onions, carrots, turnips, cabbage, barley, and MARMITE.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Scotch 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 ↓

Scotch Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Trim and wipe the meat, then cut it into small portions.

  2. Prepare the vegetables by cutting them into dice and washing the barley.

Simmer the broth

  1. Place the meat in a saucepan with the water and add a little salt.

  2. Bring the mixture slowly to a boil.

  3. Once the water boils, add the vegetables, barley, and MARMITE.

  4. Cook the broth slowly for 1 to 2 hours.

  5. Skim off any scum and fat from the soup.

Serve

  1. Remove the meat, which can be served separately.

  2. Add the chopped parsley and any additional seasoning, then serve hot.

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 + cabbagetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together897 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  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 gives the broth its body.
Pearl barley
Releases starch as it cooks, thickening the broth and adding bite.
Onions
Build sweetness and aromatic depth as they soften in the broth.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and colour while holding their shape during simmering.
Turnips
Contribute a mild, slightly peppery sweetness and soft texture to the broth.
Marmite
Adds concentrated savoury, umami depth that enriches the broth.

The step that matters

Skim off any scum and fat from the soup. Scum and fat rise to the surface during simmering; removing them keeps the broth clear and prevents a greasy, cloudy result.

Swap the onion

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

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

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