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Scotch Broth

A hearty beef and barley soup with vegetables.

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

Make the broth

  1. Cover the beef with cold water in a large pot.

  2. Add the barley and onions.

  3. Skim the surface when it begins to boil.

  4. After 2 hours, add the finely chopped vegetables.

  5. Allow the soup to boil for a total of 4 hours.

Finish and serve

  1. Skim the fat from the broth before serving.

  2. Season with pepper and coarse sea salt to taste.

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 + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Celery + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Beef shank
Releases flavor and gelatin into the broth during long simmering, giving body to the soup.
Barley
Thickens the broth as its starches release during long simmering and adds chewy texture.
Cabbage
Adds bulk and a mild sweetness as it softens in the simmering broth.
Carrots
Add natural sweetness and color to the broth as they soften.

The step that matters

Skimming the surface. Foam and fat that rise early can make the broth cloudy and greasy. Skimming while it first boils keeps the broth clear, and removing fat before serving keeps it light.

Swap the cabbage

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, barley, onion, carrot, celery, parsley, pepper):

  1. Turnipfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Cabbagethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, barley, onion, carrot, celery, parsley, 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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