The History of Food
Scotland · 18th–19th Century
Hotch-Potch
Scottish Barley, Lamb & Summer Vegetable Broth
The Georgian and Victorian Scottish broth: a little lamb, a lot of barley and whatever the summer garden gave, cooked until the vegetables sweeten the stock.
Prep
60 min
Calories
360 kcal
Macros C/P/F
34/28/11 g
Health rating
4.4 / 5
High-ProteinGut-Friendly
As set down by Meg Dods and Mrs Beeton — meat as seasoning, not centrepiece.
Ingredients
- 500 g neck of lamb on the bone
- 100 g pearl barley
- 1 kg mixed young vegetables: peas, broad beans, turnip, carrot, cauliflower
- 1 bunch spring onions
- 2 litres water
- Salt, white pepper, parsley
Method
- 1Cover the lamb with cold water, bring slowly to a simmer and skim carefully for 10 minutes.
- 2Add the barley and the hard root vegetables and simmer gently for an hour.
- 3Lift out the meat, strip it from the bone and return the lean pieces to the pot.
- 4Add the peas, beans and cauliflower for the final 15 minutes only, so they keep their sweetness.
- 5Finish with a great deal of chopped parsley and spring onion, and season at the end.