Why it works: Mutton and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,442 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Haricot Mutton
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and brown
Remove the bones from the cutlets, leaving the fat on, and cut each cutlet thick.
Fry the cutlets over high heat until browned.
Stew and finish
Place the cutlets in a stewpan with the stock, pepper, salt, and sugar.
Cover and stew gently over low heat until tender.
Strain off sufficient stock for the sauce.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + sugartop 32% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,401 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Mutton + sugartop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together726 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Pepper and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,401 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 cutlets
- Provide the main meat, which becomes tender through slow, gentle stewing.
- Second stock
- Supplies the moisture for stewing and the liquid base for the sauce.
- Sugar
- Adds a little sweetness that balances the savoury meat and stock.
The step that matters
Stew gently over low heat until tender. Tough connective tissue in mutton breaks down slowly at low temperature. A hard boil toughens and dries the meat, so keep the liquid barely simmering under a cover.
“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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