Why it works: Mutton and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,442 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Beefsteak and Mutton Chops
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and cook
Select the tenderest cuts of beefsteak and mutton chops.
Broil over a clear, hot fire.
Cook the steak rare and the chops well done.
Season with salt and pepper.
Serve
Place between two hot plates for three minutes before serving.
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 + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 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
- Beefsteak
- Tender cut that cooks quickly over high heat and is kept rare for juiciness.
- Mutton chops
- Tender cut that is cooked well done so the fat and connective tissue become tender.
The step that matters
Cook the steak rare and the chops well done. Beef and mutton need different doneness because mutton fat and connective tissue need more time to render and soften, while beef stays juicier when kept rare. Overcooking beef toughens its muscle fibres and dries out the meat.
“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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