Name: Mutton Kidneys a LA Brochette
Ingredients: Mutton kidneys; Coarse sea salt; Pepper; Oil or melted butter; Fine herbs

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 Kidneys a LA Brochette

Ingredients

Directions

Soak the kidneys in cold water for 5 minutes to soften the skin.
Remove the skin and split each kidney in half.
Skewer the kidneys with a wooden or silver skewer.
Season the kidneys with pepper and coarse sea salt.
Dip each kidney in oil or melted butter.
Broil the kidneys on a grill until cooked.
Remove the skewers before serving, unless they are silver.
Serve the kidneys on a dish with butter and fine herbs.

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 + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,442 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,781 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).