Name: Shouldeb of Lamb Stuffed
Ingredients: 1 shoulder of lamb; forcemeat; trimmings of veal or beef; 2 onions, chopped; 1 head of celery, chopped; 1 bunch of savory herbs; a few slices of fat bacon; 4 cups of stock

Why it works: Onion and celery are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,518 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Shouldeb of Lamb Stuffed

Ingredients

Directions

Remove the blade bone from the shoulder of lamb.
Fill the cavity with forcemeat and sew it closed with coarse thread.
Place the lamb in a stewpan with bacon slices underneath and on top.
Add the chopped onions, celery, savory herbs, and stock.
Stew gently for just over 2 hours.
Reduce the gravy and use it to glaze the meat.
Serve with peas, stewed cucumbers, or sorrel sauce.

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.

Onion + celerytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together18,518 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Lamb + vealtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together568 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Lamb + oniontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,407 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Lamb + celerytop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together371 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Veal + oniontop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together6,841 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).