Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓
Lamb Steaks
Ingredients
Directions
Fry the lamb or mutton steaks in butter until they are beautifully browned.
Serve the steaks topped with fried bread crumbs and crimped parsley.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
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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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Lamb + parsleytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,322 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,165 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lamb + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together598 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lamb or mutton steaks
- Provides the main meat, which browns in the butter to develop rich savoury flavour.
- Butter
- Conducts heat for frying and encourages browning, adding richness and flavour to the steaks.
- Bread crumbs
- Fried crumbs add a crisp, crunchy texture contrasting with the tender meat.
The step that matters
Fry the steaks until beautifully browned. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction, which needs a dry surface and sufficiently hot fat. Crowding the pan or starting with a wet surface makes the steaks steam and turn grey, losing flavour.
“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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