Skip to main content
Main

Stewed Neck Op Lamb and Peas

A stew of lamb neck pieces simmered with peas, onion, butter, and seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Onion and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68,474 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Stewed Neck Op Lamb and Peas

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. In a pot, melt the butter over medium heat.

  2. Add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent.

Braise and finish

  1. Cut the neck of lamb into pieces and add to the pot, browning on all sides.

  2. Pour in the water and bring to a boil.

  3. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour.

  4. Add the fresh peas, season with salt and pepper, and cook for an additional 20 minutes.

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. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Peas + oniontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,460 recipes

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

  4. Lamb + peastop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together650 recipes

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

  5. Onion + buttertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together42,912 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Neck of lamb
Provides the meat and connective tissue that softens into tender, rich stew during long simmering.
Fresh peas
Add sweetness and a bright, fresh flavor that contrasts with the rich lamb.
Butter
Carries flavor and browns the onion and lamb, adding richness to the pot.
Onion
Builds a sweet, savory base of flavor as it softens in the butter.

The step that matters

Browning the lamb on all sides. Browning triggers the Maillard reaction, which creates deep, savory flavors and color. Crowding the pot or skipping this step leaves the lamb steamed and pale, with a flatter-tasting stew.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, onion, butter, pepper):

  1. Sesamefits better
  2. Beansfits better
  3. Almondfits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, onion, butter, pepper. 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.

You might also like

Green PeasGreen Peas229 recipesGreen Peas SoupGreen Peas Soup35 recipesTomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipes