Why it works: Mutton and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,488 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Mutton Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Heat Cottolene in a frying pan to about 4 inches deep over low heat.
Season the chops with salt and pepper.
Dip each chop in the beaten egg, then roll in the bread crumbs.
Fry and serve
When the fat is smoking hot, add the cutlets and cook for 6 minutes.
After 1 minute, reduce the heat but keep the fat nearly as hot.
Drain the cutlets on brown paper and serve on a hot dish with tomato sauce.
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 + breadtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,488 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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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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Pepper + breadtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Mutton + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,648 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton chops
- Form the main body of the cutlet, becoming tender and juicy as they cook through.
- Egg
- Acts as a binder so the bread crumbs stick evenly to the chops.
- Dried bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden coating that browns in the hot fat.
- Cottolene
- Conducts heat around the coated chops, browning and crisping the crumb crust.
The step that matters
Add the cutlets only when the fat is smoking hot. Hot fat sears the crumb coating quickly, sealing it so it crisps rather than soaking up grease. Adding the cutlets to cooler fat makes the coating greasy and can let the crumbs fall away.
“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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