Why it works: Mutton and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,442 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Mutton Chops
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chops
Cut the chops from a tender loin.
Remove some fat from the chops.
Trim the chops into a nice shape.
Slightly beat the chops.
Preheat a gridiron over a bright fire.
Rub the bars of the gridiron with a little fat.
Broil and serve
Lay the chops on the gridiron.
Turn the chops frequently while broiling.
Cook the chops for about 8 minutes until done.
Season the chops with pepper and salt.
Place the seasoned chops on a very hot dish.
Rub a small piece of butter on each chop.
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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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,781 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Loin of mutton
- Forms the main body of the dish and provides the meat that cooks and browns on the gridiron.
- Butter
- Added at the end to moisten the chops and add richness to their surface.
The step that matters
Turn the chops frequently while broiling. Frequent turning over a bright, hot fire helps the outside brown evenly without burning before the centre cooks through. Letting one side scorch while the other stays underdone is the usual error.
“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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