Name: Stewed Breast of Mutton or Lamb and Peas
Ingredients: 2 lb mutton or lamb; 1 peck green peas; potatoes

Why it works: Peas and potato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,016 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Stewed Breast of Mutton or Lamb and Peas

Ingredients

2 lb mutton or lamb
1 peck green peas
potatoes

Directions

In a pot, add the mutton or lamb and cover with water.
Bring to a boil, then simmer until tender.
Add the green peas and cook until they are tender.
Serve with boiled potatoes.

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.

Peas + potatotop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,016 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Mutton + peastop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together598 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Mutton + potatotop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together293 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 or lamb: Provides the main meat, which becomes tender through long simmering in water.
Green peas: Add sweetness and a soft texture to the stew as they cook.
Potatoes: Served alongside the stew as a starchy side dish.