🇬🇧 United Kingdom · Scotland
Scotch broth
A thick Scottish soup of mutton or lamb on the bone simmered with pearl barley, dried peas and root vegetables such as carrot, turnip (swede) and leek, finished with cabbage or kale and parsley.
Origin and history
Scotch broth is the mutton-and-barley soup of Scotland, a long-standing family dish and a standard part of Burns Night celebrations. Scottish Scran says the first printed recipe appeared in the 19th century, although it was almost certainly made in homes for hundreds of years before, and its early history is hard to trace. The Daring Gourmet quotes Meg Dods as calling it the 'Pot au Feu of Scotland'.
Make it at home
- Makes
- 6 servings
- Total time
- 3 h
- Hands-on
- 40 min
Ingredients
- 700 g1.5 lb lamb neck, shoulder or shank on the bone, mutton if you can get it
- 2.5 l2 1/2 quarts cold water
- 100 g1/2 cup pearl barley, rinsed
- 70 g1/3 cup dried green split peas, rinsed; see notes about soaking
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, diced
- 150 g5 oz neep (swede or rutabaga), peeled, diced
- 1 leek, washed, finely sliced
- 200 g7 oz green cabbage or kale, shredded
- 2 tsp salt, adjust at the end
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
Method
-
1. Put the lamb, water and 1 tsp salt in a large pot. Bring to a boil and skim the foam.
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2. Add the barley and split peas, lower the heat, and simmer partly covered for 1 hour.
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3. Add the onion, carrots, neep and leek and simmer for another 45 minutes to 1 hour, until the barley is soft and the broth thick and slightly cloudy.
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4. Lift out the lamb and let it cool a little. Remove the meat from the bones, cut it into small pieces and return it to the pot, discarding the bones and fat.
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5. Add the cabbage or kale and simmer for 15 minutes until tender but still green.
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6. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the parsley and serve with bread, oatcakes or bannocks.
Notes
- Mutton or lamb neck on the bone is the traditional base (Scottish Scran also gives a version where mutton bones are cooked 2 to 3 hours before the barley and vegetables go in); beef, ham hock or chicken stock are also used. A vegetarian version uses vegetable stock.
- The vegetables are what is in season: leek, carrot, neep and kale or cabbage are the usual. Some cooks add parsnip or turnip.
- The soup should be thick enough to be a meal. Add hot water if it thickens too much on standing, as the barley keeps swelling.
- Most packaged pearl barley and split peas do not need soaking; follow the packet.
- Burns Night suppers often start with it. Better the next day; keeps 3 to 4 days and freezes well.
Adapted from Scottish Scran, Scotch Broth and The Daring Gourmet, Traditional Scotch Broth.
At the festivals
No festival we list has printed it on a menu yet.