Why it works: Mint and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,998 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Mutton and Lamb
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the mutton
Remove the shoulder blade and leg bone from the mutton shoulder.
Rub the meat with coarse sea salt and finely chopped mint.
Smear the outside with melted butter and dust with flour.
Roast
Roast in a very hot oven (400°F/200°C) until the flour is brown.
Reduce the heat and baste frequently, turning the meat after 30 minutes.
Roast for 1 hour for 4 pounds of meat.
Make the gravy and serve
Remove the meat to a hot platter and drain off the fat.
Stir in 2 tablespoons of flour and heat until browned.
Add a pint of water from boiled bones and stir until smooth.
Season to taste and add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, then strain and serve in a gravy bowl.
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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Mint + lemontop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,998 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,781 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Flour + lemontop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,404 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton shoulder
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and juicy during slow roasting.
- Flour
- Coats the outside to brown in the oven and thickens the gravy made from the pan drippings.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat to the outside of the meat, helping it brown and stay moist.
- Mint
- Adds a fresh, aromatic herb flavour that complements the lamb-like meat.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich, fatty gravy.
The step that matters
Browning the flour in the hot oven. The flour coating must brown well before the heat is lowered, since browning creates the color and roasted flavor of the crust and the drippings used for gravy.
Swap the mint
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, butter, flour, lemon):
- Parsleyfits better
- Capersfits better
- Turmericfits better
- Mintthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, butter, flour, lemon. 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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