Why it works: Flour and ketchup are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,435 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Haricot Mutton
Ingredients
Directions
Simmer the mutton for two hours, skimming off the scum as it rises.
Remove the herbs from the pot.
Mix the flour with cold water to form a smooth paste. Add a little of the boiling liquid to the paste, then stir the paste into the soup.
Let it boil for one to two minutes.
Add ketchup, liquid browning for color, and a little pepper. Boil once more.
Serve very hot.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Flour + ketchuptop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,435 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Flour + peppertop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Mutton + ketchuptop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together367 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).
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Ketchup + peppertop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,207 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Best end of the neck of mutton
- Provides the main meat, whose slow simmering turns it tender and flavourful.
- Flour
- Thickens the cooking liquid into a smooth, body-rich sauce when mixed into a paste.
- Ketchup
- Adds sweetness and acidity that rounds out the savoury broth.
The step that matters
Stirring the flour paste into the soup. Flour clumps if added dry or unmixed; mixing it smooth with cold water first and tempering it with hot liquid lets the starch disperse evenly so the sauce thickens without lumps.
“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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