Name: Lamb Chops
Ingredients: loin of lamb; 1 egg yolk; bread crumbs; parsley; thyme; marjoram; winter savory; lemon peel; butter

Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Lamb Chops

Ingredients

Directions

Cut the loin of lamb into chops.
Rub both sides of the chops with the egg yolk.
Sprinkle the chops with bread crumbs mixed with finely chopped parsley, thyme, marjoram, winter savory, and lemon peel.
Fry the chops in butter until they are light brown.
Place the chops in a dish and garnish with parsley.

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.

Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,225 recipes

Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).
Thyme + winter savorytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together780 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Marjoram + winter savorytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together455 recipes

Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).
Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,979 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).