Why it works: Pepper and beef are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 18,971 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Mutton Chop Fried
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chops
Rub both sides of the mutton chops with a mixture of salt and pepper.
Dip the chops in wheat flour or rolled crackers.
Fry and make the sauce
Fry the chops in hot lard or beef drippings until both sides are a fine brown.
Transfer the chops to a hot dish.
Add hot water to the pan and let it heat up.
Stir in the browned flour and let it boil.
Serve
Serve the sauce in the pan with the meat.
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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Pepper + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,971 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Mutton + beeftop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,373 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Wheat + beeftop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together319 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Pepper + wheattop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together984 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
- Fine mutton chops
- The main meat, which browns in the fat and becomes tender when fried.
- Wheat flour or rolled crackers
- Coating that browns in the hot fat and forms a crisp outer crust.
- Lard or beef drippings
- Frying fat that conducts heat evenly and drives browning on the chop surfaces.
- Browned flour
- Thickens the pan liquid into a sauce and adds a toasted, nutty flavour.
The step that matters
Browning the chops in hot fat. The chops need enough hot fat to brown well on both sides. Pale or greasy frying gives less flavour and a soft crust, so the fat should be hot before the chops go in.
“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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