Why it works: Beef and mutton are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,373 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Rendered Fat
Ingredients
Directions
Cut the fat into small pieces and place in a strong, unlined pan.
Cover with water and heat gently until all the water is evaporated.
Continue heating the fat until it becomes liquid and clear.
Allow to cool slightly, then pour through a strainer.
Use the rendered fat for frying or making pastries and cakes.
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.
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Beef + muttontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,373 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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