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Mutton Cutlets in Batter

Fried mutton cutlets coated in a seasoned batter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Mutton Cutlets in Batter

Ingredients

Directions

Marinate

  1. Mix olive oil, vinegar, bay leaves, parsley, thyme, mace, onion, black pepper, and salt in a bowl.

  2. Place the mutton cutlets in the mixture and marinate for 2 to 3 hours.

Make the batter

  1. In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolk, flour, melted butter, and a little salt.

  2. Gradually add tepid water to form a smooth batter.

  3. Beat the egg white until stiff and fold it into the batter just before using.

Fry and serve

  1. Wipe the cutlets with a clean cloth, dip them in the batter, and fry in boiling fat until golden brown.

  2. Serve arranged on a napkin with plain brown sauce in a sauce-tureen.

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.

  1. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  3. Thyme + peppertop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,585 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Olive + thymetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,948 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).

  5. Olive + parsleytop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,649 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mutton cutlets
Main protein that is seasoned by the marinade and cooked through in the batter.
Flour
Forms the batter's structure, setting into a crisp coating when fried.
Egg white
Beaten stiff and folded in, it lightens the batter so it puffs and fries crisp.
Egg yolk
Adds richness and helps bind the batter so it clings to the cutlets.
Melted butter
Adds fat that promotes tenderness and golden browning in the batter.
Olive oil
Carries the marinade's aromatics and adds fat that moistens the meat.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg white. Fold the stiffly beaten white in just before frying. Its trapped air expands in hot fat and gives a light, crisp coating; if it deflates while waiting, the batter turns heavy.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, vinegar, parsley, thyme, onion, pepper, mutton):

  1. Garlicfits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Rosemaryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, vinegar, parsley, thyme, onion, pepper, mutton. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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