Since my first successful experiment mixing Scotch Broth soup with Kraft Macroni & Cheese, I’ve tried about a dozen more combinations — primarily mixing Scotch Broth with about a dozen various types of Lipton Noodles & Sauce. And they all work. For the time being, almost all of my home-cooked meals are filled with muttony goodness.

But I had yet to try the real thing, until Thursday evening. Before I headed up to see Ran at the AFI Silver theater, I made my first trek to the Royal Mile Pub in Wheaton, MD. When I arrived, they told me they were having a Scotch tasting that night — but there was only one kind of Scotch I was interested in tasting. That’s right, Scotch Broth. (The waiter seemed almost crestfallen when I ordered merely a Coke to drink.) I discovered Scotch Broth on the webbed menu of this Scottish pub a couple of weeks before I finally found some of the condensed Campbell’s variety in a nearby grocery store, but I hadn’t actually made my way up to the pub until this week.

The menu description looks pretty promising: “Traditional Scottish lamb stew with barley, turnips, leeks and carrots. Served with bread & butter.” There are no leeks or turnips in the Campbell’s cans, so this would be at least a more hearty variety. Indeed, when I was presented with my first bowl, it was an impressive stew with huge chunks of vegetables and lamb. The lamb was particularly lambby, and the vegetables were all tasty — I think it may be the first time I’ve ever had a leek. But the broth itself was relatively flavorless, particularly when compared to the strong, salty, muttony flavor of the condensed soup I love so much. Adding some salt and lots of pepper fixed that, but I couldn’t help thinking that the Scotch Broth would have tasted better with a can of Scotch Broth mixed in . . .

Since it would probably be unspeakably gauche to take a can of soup with me to the pub to mix into the food they serve me, I think I’ll have to get a large Tupperware bowl to take with me on my next trip (which, I can only hope, would be slightly less gauche). Then I can take it home and mix soups to my heart’s content.

So, based on the data from my Scotch Broth experiments of the past couple of weeks, canned Scotch Broth goes well with absolutely everything — even real Scotch Broth.