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Mutton Stew with Peas

A stew of mutton pieces, onions, herbs, and peas simmered in gravy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and peas are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,460 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mutton Stew with Peas

Ingredients

Directions

Make the stew

  1. Dredge the mutton pieces in flour and fry them brown in good dripping.

  2. Add the sliced onion and chopped herbs.

  3. Cover with cold water, place the lid on the saucepan, and stew gently until very tender.

  4. Remove the meat and keep it hot over boiling water.

  5. Strain and season the gravy.

Add peas and serve

  1. Add the young peas and stew slowly until they are done.

  2. Return the meat to the pot, bring to a boil, and serve.

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. Onion + peastop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,460 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Mutton + peastop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together598 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  3. Flour + oniontop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together32,460 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Mutton + oniontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,531 recipes

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

  5. Flour + peastop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,837 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton
Slow stewing turns the tough connective tissue tender, giving the meat its main texture.
Flour
Coats the meat so it browns well and helps thicken the gravy.
Dripping
Fat that carries heat for frying the meat, building browning and savoury flavour.
Onion
Adds sweetness and aroma to the gravy as it cooks down.
Young peas
Add sweetness and a fresh, green flavour to the finished stew.

The step that matters

Stew gently until the mutton is very tender. Mutton breast is full of connective tissue that needs long, gentle, moist heat to soften into gelatin. A hard boil toughens the meat and clouds the gravy, so keep the liquid at a low simmer.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, flour, peas):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, flour, peas. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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