Scotch Broth

Ingredients

• ¾ lb Lamb, diced (lamb is the classic)
• ½ cup pearl barley, rinsed
• 2 Carrot, diced
• 1 leek, sliced
• 1 turnip or potato, diced
• ½ small cabbage, shredded
• 7 cups stock or water
• 2 bay leaves
• Parsley, plenty

Method

1. Brown the Lamb lightly in a soup pot; add the stock, barley, and bay, and simmer 30 minutes, skimming any foam.
2. Add the Carrot, leek, and turnip; simmer 20 minutes more.
3. Add the cabbage for the final 10 — Scotch broth layers its vegetables by sturdiness; everything arrives tender together.
4. The barley will have thickened the pot to 'broth' in the Scottish sense, which everywhere else calls stew.
5. Season generously, shower with parsley, and serve with bread. Cold-climate engineering: one pot, a week of warmth, centuries of approval.