Name: A Leg of Mutton with Oysters
Ingredients: 1 leg of mutton; coarse sea salt; oysters; 1 glass red wine

Why it works: Mutton and oyster work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 317 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

A Leg of Mutton with Oysters

Ingredients

1 leg of mutton
coarse sea salt
oysters
1 glass red wine

Directions

Rub the leg of mutton all over with coarse sea salt.
Place it on the spit to roast over a clear fire, basting it with its own gravy.
When nearly done, remove it and make incisions all over the meat.
Stuff an oyster into each incision.
Return it to the fire to finish roasting.
Before serving, skim the gravy and bring it to a boil with the red wine.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Mutton + oystertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together317 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Mutton + red winetop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together117 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Oyster + red winetop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together92 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).