Name: Breast of Lamb with Tomato Sauce
Ingredients: 3 pounds breast of lamb; 1 egg; 1 cup breadcrumbs; coarse sea salt; black pepper; tomato sauce

Why it works: Pepper and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Breast of Lamb with Tomato Sauce

Oven, in the book's wordsA very hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Boil the breast of lamb until tender, then remove the bones.
The day before serving, prepare the lamb and place it in a bag.
Half an hour before serving, egg and crumb the lamb, season, and put it in a well-greased bag.
Seal the bag and place it in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 minutes.
Serve with tomato sauce.

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.

Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Lamb + tomatotop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together979 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,165 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Tomato + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,469 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Lamb + saucetop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together925 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).