Why it works: Lamb and olive are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,586 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Lamb's Heart, a L'ecos- Sake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Slice the lamb's heart into ½ inch thick pieces.
Prepare forcemeat balls as directed in recipe No. 589, roll them in flour.
Cook
Fry the slices in a little butter, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Bake the forcemeat balls in a buttered pan until browned.
Serve
Serve a slice of the heart with a spoonful of brown gravy, and arrange the forcemeat balls and pitted olives around it.
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.
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Lamb + olivetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,586 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Pepper + olivetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together30,263 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,165 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + olivetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,887 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Lamb's heart
- Forms the main meat, providing the dish's chewy, rich texture when fried.
- Forcemeat balls
- Provide a crisp, browned exterior and a soft, savoury interior contrasting the meat.
- Butter
- Conducts heat for frying and browning, adding richness and savoury flavour to the surfaces.
- Brown gravy
- Adds moisture and savoury depth to the plated slices.
The step that matters
Fry the slices in a little butter. Lamb's heart is lean and tough, so frying over moderate heat for a short time browns the surface without drying the interior. Overcooking toughens the muscle fibres and makes the slices dry and chewy.
“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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