Name: Lamb Cutlets a LA Catalane
Ingredients: Lamb cutlets; Salt; Pepper; Olive oil; Garlic; Fresh herbs (such as thyme and rosemary); Lemon juice

Why it works: Thyme and rosemary match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,340 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Lamb Cutlets a LA Catalane

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Season the lamb cutlets with salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Add minced garlic and fresh herbs to the skillet.
Sear the lamb cutlets for 3-4 minutes on each side until browned.
Drizzle with lemon juice before serving.

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.

Thyme + rosemarytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,340 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,973 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Rosemary + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together845 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,665 recipes

Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Olive + rosemarytop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,590 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, pepper, olive, garlic, thyme, rosemary):

Lemonthe original
Limefits about as well
Cherryfits less well
Avocadofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, pepper, olive, garlic, thyme, rosemary. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.