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Scotch Broth

A hearty soup of mutton, barley, vegetables, and herbs simmered for hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Scotch Broth

Why it works: Leek and turnip match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,046 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Scotch Broth

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Trim excess fat from the mutton and cut the meat into small dice.

  2. In a stewpan, combine the mutton with 2 ½ cups of cold water for each pound of meat and 1 extra pint of water.

Make the broth

  1. Add the salt and pearl barley, then bring to a boil and skim off any foam.

  2. Add the cabbage, carrots, and leek, then bring back to a boil.

  3. Reduce heat and simmer for 1½ hours.

  4. Add the turnip and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Serve

  1. Remove all pieces of bone, pour into a tureen, and sprinkle with chopped parsley.

  2. Add salt and pepper to taste, then serve.

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. Leek + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,046 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Barley + leektop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together142 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Cabbage + turniptop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together897 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
Provides the meat and rich flavour that the broth is built on.
Pearl barley
Releases starch as it simmers, thickening the broth and giving it body.
Cabbage
Softens during simmering and adds bulk and a mild sweetness to the broth.
Carrots
Soften as they cook, adding natural sweetness and colour to the broth.
Leek
Softens into the broth, adding a mild onion-like aroma and sweetness.
Turnip
Cooks through in the final stage, adding a slightly peppery sweetness and bulk.

The step that matters

Skimming the foam after the first boil. Foam carries impurities and fat from the meat. Skimming it early keeps the broth clear and clean-tasting rather than cloudy or greasy.

Swap the cabbage

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

  1. Parsnipfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Beetrootfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

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