DIY Tregaron Granny's Broth

Tregaron is a small market town in west Wales, and this is the kind of broth that fed shepherds and farm hands through the long winter months in the Cambrian Mountains. The structure is medieval-simple: stuff a pot with whatever winter root vegetables you have, add a couple of cuts of cheap meat, cover with water, and let it cook itself.

Shin beef and bacon do the heavy work for flavor. Shin is full of connective tissue that breaks down over a long simmer into gelatin-rich broth, and the bacon contributes salt, smoke, and fat. Cabbage, carrots, parsnips, swede turnip, and potatoes round out the body. The leek goes in last so it stays bright instead of melting into the broth.

Oatmeal is the unusual thickener. A handful stirred in toward the end of cooking gives the broth a slightly creamy, porridge-like body that’s distinctly Welsh and entirely different from a flour or cornstarch finish.

Kitchen Tips

• The longer the simmer, the better the flavor. Two to three hours minimum, longer if you can swing it.
• Skim the foam from the surface during the first 30 minutes for a cleaner-tasting broth.
• Add the leek in the last 10 minutes only; long cooking turns it gray and washed out.
• Use rolled oats if pinhead (steel-cut) oatmeal isn’t available, but reduce the amount; rolled oats thicken faster.

Variations

• Substitute lamb shoulder or neck for the shin beef for a more traditional Welsh cawl.
• Add a sprig of fresh thyme and a bay leaf for extra herbal depth.
• Stir in a handful of pearl barley along with the oatmeal for added chew.