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Deviled Kidneys

Deviled Kidneys are lamb or sheep kidneys seasoned with mustard, flour, vinegar, salt, pepper, and cayenne, then broiled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Mustard and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,067 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Deviled Kidneys

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the kidneys and dry them on a towel.

  2. Split them open without entirely separating the halves.

Cook

  1. Spread a mixture of mustard, flour, vinegar, salt, white pepper, and cayenne on the kidneys.

  2. Broil over a brisk fire until browned.

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. Mustard + vinegartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,067 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Mustard + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,430 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,165 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Mustard + flourtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,066 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Vinegar + peppertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,814 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Sheep or lamb kidneys
Form the main body of the dish, with a mild, rich meat flavor when broiled.
Dry mustard
Adds sharp, pungent flavor that cuts the richness of the kidneys.
Flour
Thickens the spread so it clings to the kidneys instead of running off.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and balances the fatty meat.

The step that matters

Broiling until browned. Kidneys cook quickly and turn tough and dry if overcooked. A brisk heat browns the spread and sets the surface while the interior stays tender, so watch them closely.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, mustard, flour, vinegar, pepper):

  1. Capersfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Turmericfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, mustard, flour, vinegar, pepper. 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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