Why it works: Mutton and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,781 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Broiled Kidneys
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Skin the kidneys and cut them open without severing the halves.
Insert a thin skewer through the kidneys to keep them flat.
Dip the kidneys in butter and place them cut-side down on a grill.
Broil and serve
Broil for 3 minutes, then turn and broil for another 3 minutes.
Serve immediately with maître d'hôtel butter.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,781 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton kidneys
- Provide the main meat, which cooks quickly to a tender texture when broiled briefly.
- Butter
- Adds fat and moisture to the surface, helping the kidneys brown and stay juicy under the heat.
The step that matters
Broil for 3 minutes, then turn and broil for another 3 minutes. Kidneys become tough and rubbery if overcooked, and the short, even broil time keeps the interior tender while the surface browns. Timing matters because the thin halves cook through quickly.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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