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Mutton Stew

A stew of mutton cubes with onions, potatoes, tomatoes, peas, seasoned with pepper, salt, flour, and poultry seasoning, cooked in a buttered bag.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Onion and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,023 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mutton Stew

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Trim all fat from the mutton and cut it into 1-inch cubes.

  2. In a large bowl, combine the mutton, onions, potatoes, tomatoes, and peas.

  3. Season with pepper and coarse sea salt, then sprinkle with flour and poultry seasoning.

Bag and bake

  1. Place the mixture in a buttered bag and add cold water.

  2. Fold the bag and fasten it securely.

  3. Cook in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 35 to 40 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve hot.

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. Onion + potatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

  2. Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

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

  3. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  4. Onion + tomatotop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,633 recipes

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

  5. Tomato + peastop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Neck of mutton
Provides the main protein and rich meaty flavor that forms the body of the stew.
Potatoes
Absorb cooking juices and soften, thickening the stew and adding body.
Flour
Lightly coats the meat and vegetables, helping to thicken the cooking liquid.
Onions
Release sweetness and aroma as they cook, building savory depth in the stew.

The step that matters

Sealing the bag. A tightly fastened bag traps steam so the meat and vegetables cook in their own moisture. If it leaks, the liquid evaporates and the stew can dry out and cook unevenly.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, onion, potato, tomato, pepper, flour):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Chickpeafits better
  3. Lentilsfits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, onion, potato, tomato, pepper, flour. 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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