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Mutton Broth

A broth made by simmering a lamb leg with onions, potato, tomatoes, pearl barley, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Mutton Broth

Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mutton Broth

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil the leg of lamb to make the broth.

  2. Add the chopped onions, potato, tomatoes, and pearl barley.

  3. Boil for one hour, stirring often.

  4. Mix the flour with a little cold water until smooth, then add to the broth.

  5. Remove from heat.

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. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Potato + barleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together165 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Lamb + potatotop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together520 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Leg of lamb
Provides the meat and rich flavour that build the broth.
Pearl barley
Releases starch as it cooks, thickening the broth and adding body.
Flour
Thickens the broth when mixed smooth with cold water before adding.
Onions
Add sweetness and savoury aroma as they soften in the broth.
Potato
Breaks down slightly during simmering, adding body to the broth.
Tomatoes
Add acidity and fresh flavour to the broth.

The step that matters

Mixing the flour with cold water until smooth. Flour added directly to hot liquid clumps instead of dispersing. Mixing it smooth in cold water first lets the starch spread evenly, so the broth thickens without lumps.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, onion, potato, barley, flour):

  1. Leekfits better
  2. Okrafits better
  3. Chivefits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, onion, potato, barley, 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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