Why it works: Mutton and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,442 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Mutton Patties
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Line tartlet moulds with puff pastry.
Make the filling
Pound together equal weights of lean mutton and fat bacon.
Season the mixture with coarse sea salt, a small quantity of spice, and cayenne pepper.
Fill and bake
Place a round ball of the meat mixture into each patty pan and cover with pastry.
Make a small hole in the center of each patty.
Bake for about 20 minutes.
Pour a little well-seasoned gravy into each patty through the hole before they cool.
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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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lean mutton
- Forms the main meat body of the filling, giving the patties their savoury bulk.
- Fat bacon
- Adds fat that keeps the pounded meat moist and rich during baking.
- Puff pastry
- Forms the flaky crust that encloses the filling and browns in the oven.
- Well-seasoned gravy
- Added after baking to moisten the filling inside the cooled patty.
The step that matters
Pouring the gravy through the hole. Gravy must go in while the patties are still warm so it soaks into the meat rather than sitting in the pastry. Once fully cooled, the filling is firm and the gravy will not spread through it evenly.
“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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