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Broiled Lamb or Mutton Chops

A simple grilled lamb or mutton chop seasoned with pepper and coarse sea salt, finished with butter and optional tomato sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Broiled Lamb or Mutton Chops

Ingredients

Directions

Grill

  1. Place the chops on a grill over a clear fire.

  2. Turn frequently, ensuring the fork does not penetrate the lean part of the chops.

  3. Season with pepper and coarse sea salt.

Serve

  1. When done, place a piece of butter on each chop.

  2. Serve on a hot dish with tomato sauce if desired.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Lamb + tomatotop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together979 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  3. Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,165 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,469 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lamb or mutton chops
Provide the meat, whose fat and lean muscle cook and brown over direct heat.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture to the finished chops as it melts over the hot meat.
Tomato sauce
Optional accompaniment that adds acidity and sweetness to contrast the rich meat.

The step that matters

Turning the chops frequently. Frequent turning over a clear fire cooks the chops evenly and helps prevent the outside from scorching before the inside is done. Piercing the lean part with a fork lets juices escape, which dries the meat.

Swap the tomato

The recipe marks tomato as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, pepper, butter, sauce):

  1. Capsicumfits about as well
  2. Potatofits about as well
  3. Tomatothe original
  4. Asparagusfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, pepper, butter, sauce. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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