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Shoulder of Mutton

A roasted mutton shoulder served with onion sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 2 ingredients
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Why it works: Mutton and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,531 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Shoulder of Mutton

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Roast the shoulder of mutton until well done.

  2. Ensure the skin is a nice brown color.

  3. Serve with onion sauce.

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

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

  2. Onion + saucetop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together10,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Mutton + saucetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,087 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).

Onion and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,474 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
Is the main cut of meat, providing the bulk and rich flavor of the dish.
Onion sauce
Adds moisture and a sweet, savory note to balance the rich roasted meat.

The step that matters

Browning the skin. The skin should turn a nice brown during roasting. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction, which needs dry surface heat and enough time. Pale skin usually means the meat was not roasted long enough or the surface was too moist.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Tomatofits better
  3. Onionthe original
  4. Capsicumfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, sauce. 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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