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Mutton Cutlets with Tomatoes

Mutton cutlets topped with tomato slices, parsley, and chives, baked in buttered paper bags.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and parsley 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 ↓

Mutton Cutlets with Tomatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA very hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Flatten and trim the mutton cutlets neatly.

  2. Season each side with salt and pepper.

  3. Place a slice of tomato on each cutlet.

  4. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and chives.

Bake

  1. Put the cutlets into buttered paper bags.

  2. Place in a very hot oven at 400°F (200°C) on a grid or trivet.

  3. Cook for 12 to 15 minutes.

  4. Cut open the paper bag.

  5. Carefully remove the cutlets.

Serve

  1. Arrange on a hot dish.

  2. Garnish with sprigs of parsley. Serve.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Parsley + chivetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,150 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  4. Tomato + parsleytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,398 recipes

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

  5. Tomato + chivetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together538 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton cutlets
Main protein that firms up and browns in the hot oven.
Tomatoes (in the method)
Add moisture and acidity that keep the cutlets juicy and tangy.
Chives
Add a mild onion-like aroma and fresh flavour.
Parsley
Adds a fresh, green aroma that brightens the rich meat.

The step that matters

Timing in the very hot oven. Thin cutlets cook quickly at high heat, and the paper bag traps steam so the meat stays moist. Leaving them in past the stated 12 to 15 minutes lets the proteins tighten and the meat dry out.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pepper, parsley, chive, butter):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, pepper, parsley, chive, butter. 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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