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Stuffed Shoulder of Mutton

A mutton shoulder stuffed with bread crumbs, butter, parsley, oysters, lemon juice, salt, and egg, then roasted.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Stuffed Shoulder of Mutton

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Have the butcher remove the blade from the shoulder.

  2. Mix the bread crumbs, butter, parsley, oysters, lemon juice, salt, and egg in a bowl.

  3. Fill the space in the shoulder with the mixture and sew up the opening.

Roast

  1. Roast in the oven with a little water in the pan at 350°F (175°C).

  2. Cook for 15 minutes per pound, basting frequently.

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. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

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

  2. Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Mutton + breadtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Butter + oystertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, green).

  5. Bread + oystertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton shoulder
Provides the main meat and fat, which renders and keeps the roast moist as it cooks.
Bread crumbs
Absorb juices and fat from the meat, giving the stuffing body and a soft texture.
Egg
Binds the stuffing together so it holds its shape when the roast is sliced.
Oysters
Add a briny, savoury flavour and moisture to the stuffing.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and helps the stuffing brown lightly in the oven.

The step that matters

Basting frequently during the roast. Basting spreads melted fat and pan liquid over the surface, keeping the meat moist and promoting even browning as the outside dries in the oven heat.

“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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