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Hot Pot of Mutton and Barley

A stew of mutton, barley, potatoes, onions, and herbs simmered in water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and onion 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 ↓

Hot Pot of Mutton and Barley

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut the mutton into small pieces and brown it with the onions in fat from the meat.

  2. Transfer the browned meat and onions into a covered saucepan.

Simmer

  1. Add 2 quarts of water and the pearled barley.

  2. Simmer for 1 hour and 18 minutes.

  3. Add the potatoes cut into quarters and the seasoning herbs.

  4. Cook for an additional 30 minutes.

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.

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. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Barley + celerytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together571 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  4. Potato + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,047 recipes

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

  5. Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton
Provides the main meaty flavor and body as its fat and juices enrich the broth.
Pearled barley
Softens during simmering and thickens the stew as its starch releases into the liquid.
Potatoes
Break down slightly during cooking, adding body and starch to the stew.
Onions
Browning them in meat fat builds savory depth and sweetness in the stew.

The step that matters

Browning the mutton and onions. Searing the meat and onions in its own fat creates browned flavors through the Maillard reaction. Skipping or rushing this step leaves the stew tasting flat and greyish.

Swap the celery

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

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Thymefits about as well
  3. Celerythe original
  4. Parsleyfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, potato, barley, onion. 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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