Too Many Cooks Spoil the Broth
Broth is a thin savoury liquid made by simmering. The proverb about too many cooks has been in English since the sixteenth century.
Broth is a thin savoury liquid made by simmering meat, bones or vegetables. It carries one of the oldest proverbs in working English: *too many cooks spoil the broth* is recorded from the 1500s, and it has outlived the dish it describes. The word is Old English and shares a root with *brew* — both are about liquid heated slowly.
- A savoury liquid. *Chicken broth.*
- A culture medium. *A nutrient broth.*
- Bone broth — long-simmered bones. *A mug of bone broth.*
- Too many cooks spoil the broth — the proverb. *A case of too many cooks.*
- Brew — related, from the same idea. *Brewing tea.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | broth | Hot broth. |
| Plural | broths | Clear broths. |
| Related | brew | To brew beer. |
| Related | stock | Chicken stock. |
| Related | bouillon | A bouillon cube. |
- Simmer the broth for two hours.Cooking.
- The bacteria grew in a nutrient broth.Microbiology.
- Too many cooks spoil the broth.Recorded from the 1500s.
Broth, stock, consommé
- Broth — made mainly from meat, seasoned, and drinkable on its own
- Stock — made mainly from bones, usually unseasoned, used as a base
- Bouillon — the French word for broth, and the name of the cube
- Consommé — a stock clarified until transparent
- In practice the terms overlap and cookbooks disagree
Old English *broþ*, from a Germanic root related to *brew*, ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning to boil or bubble.
What is the difference between broth and stock?
Broth is generally made from meat and seasoned to be eaten as it is. Stock is made from bones, usually unseasoned, and used as a base.
How old is too many cooks spoil the broth?
The proverb is recorded in English from the sixteenth century and versions exist in several European languages.