Why it works: Mutton and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,488 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Mutton Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Cut the mutton into nice cutlets and trim carefully.
Heat the frying fat in a stewpan over low heat.
Beat the egg well on a plate.
Mix the bread crumbs with salt and pepper on a piece of paper.
Dry the cutlets thoroughly, dip them into the egg, and cover with crumbs, pressing lightly.
Fry and serve
Fry the cutlets in boiling fat until done, then drain on kitchen paper.
Serve on a hot dish, surrounded by mashed potatoes, with the green vegetable in the center.
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.
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Mutton + breadtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,488 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Bread + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,964 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Mutton + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,648 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
- Neck of mutton
- Forms the main body of the cutlets and provides the meaty flavor.
- Egg
- Acts as a binder so the bread crumbs adhere to the cutlets.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden coating when fried.
The step that matters
Dry the cutlets thoroughly before coating. Surface moisture makes the egg and crumbs slide off or steam instead of crisping, so the cutlets should be patted dry before dipping.
“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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