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 ↓
To Stew Mutton
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the mutton
Boil the mutton in water for 1.5 hours.
Season with salt and pepper.
Thicken and finish
Mix the flour with cold water until smooth, then stir the flour mixture into the boiling meat.
Add parsley if desired.
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.
-
Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together16,675 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mutton + parsleytop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,915 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton
- Provides the main meat and rich flavour as it simmers into the stew.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid so the stew becomes lightly body-rich rather than watery.
The step that matters
Stirring the flour mixture into the boiling meat. Flour mixed smooth with cold water disperses evenly; if added as dry lumps or to a weak liquid, it clumps and thickens unevenly. Keeping the stew boiling as it goes helps the starch swell and thicken fully.
Swap the parsley
The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pepper, flour):
- Turmericfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Parsleythe original
- Marjoramfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, 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.
More mutton stew recipes
You might also like
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Haricot Mutton59 recipes
Mutton Soup56 recipes
Curried Mutton9 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.