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Three light invalid preparations: a gently stewed mutton cutlet, a mutton shank jelly, and a lemonade.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 22 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Invalid Cookery

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cutlet

  1. Cut the cutlet from a very nice loin or neck of mutton.

  2. Take off all the fat from the cutlet.

  3. Put the cutlet into a stewpan with the other ingredients.

  4. Stew very gently for nearly 2 hours.

  5. Skim off every particle of fat that rises to the surface from time to time.

  6. Cut the celery into thin slices before adding it to the meat.

  7. Do not put in too much celery, or the dish will not be good.

  8. Do not let the water boil fast, or the cutlet will be hard.

Make the jelly

  1. Soak the shanks in plenty of water for some hours.

  2. Scrub the shanks well.

  3. Put the shanks, the beef and the other ingredients into a saucepan with the water.

  4. Let them simmer very gently for 5 hours.

  5. Strain the broth.

  6. When cold, take off all the fat.

  7. Eat the jelly either warmed up or cold.

Make the lemonade

  1. Pare off the rind of the lemon thinly.

  2. Cut the lemon into 2 or 3 thick slices.

  3. Remove as much of the white pith as possible and all the pips.

  4. Put the lemon slices, the peel and the lump sugar into a jug.

  5. Pour over the boiling water.

  6. Cover the jug closely and leave it for 2 hours.

  7. Strain or pour off the lemonade from the sediment.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

68Calories
2 gProtein
0 gFat
16 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 8 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0
Muttonnot in our table0
Macenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

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. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Celery + lemontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,467 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Celery + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16,012 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Celery + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,518 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton cutlet
Provides the main meat, which turns tender and flavourful when stewed gently.
Mutton shanks
Release collagen and flavour into the water, helping the broth set into a jelly when cold.
Lemon
Supplies acidity and aroma; the peel adds fragrance while the juice flavours the drink.
Celery
Adds a subtle aromatic savoury flavour to the broth.

The step that matters

Keep the water at a bare simmer. Boiling fast toughens the meat proteins and makes the cutlet hard, while gentle heat keeps it tender and clear.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (celery, mutton, onion, lemon, pepper):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against celery, mutton, onion, lemon, 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.