Why it works: Onion and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 16,901 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓
Roast or Stewed Fillet of Mutton
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut some inches from either end of a large and well-kept leg of mutton, leaving the fillet shaped like one of veal.
Remove the bone from the fillet.
Fill the cavity with forcemeat, which may be flavored with a little minced eschalot if desired.
If more forcemeat is desired, detach the skin sufficiently on the flap side to admit it and add more forcemeat.
Roast or stew
When prepared, roast the fillet, serving it with currant-jelly and brown gravy, or with melted butter poured over it.
Alternatively, stew the fillet gently for nearly or quite four hours in a pint of gravy or broth, after having been floured and browned all over in a couple of ounces of butter, turning it every hour.
Add two or three small onions, a faggot of herbs, a couple of carrots sliced, four or five cloves, and twenty whole peppercorns to the stew or roast at will.
Roast for 2 hours, or stew for 4 hours.
Note: at a large fire, roast for half an hour less for English taste.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | 1 medium (110g) | 44 |
| Clove | 1 tsp ground (2g) | 7 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
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Onion + clovetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,901 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton (in the method)
- Forms the main body of the dish, and slow stewing softens its connective tissue into tender meat.
- Butter (in the method)
- Browns the floured surface, adding colour and savoury flavour before the stew.
- Gravy
- Provides the liquid for stewing, carrying flavour and keeping the meat moist as it cooks.
- Onions
- Adds sweetness and savoury depth as they soften into the stewing liquid.
- Cloves
- Adds warm, aromatic spice to the stewing liquid.
The step that matters
Browning the floured fillet before stewing. Browning in butter develops deep flavour through the Maillard reaction, and the floured surface adds colour and helps thicken the gravy. Skipping it leaves the stew pale and flat.
“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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