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Fricassee of Lamb-stones and Sweetbreads

A savory stew of lamb, sweetbreads, and oysters simmered in butter, gravy, wine, and aromatics.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Asparagus and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 137 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Fricassee of Lamb-stones and Sweetbreads

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare and fry

  1. Flour the sweetbreads and cut thick ones in half.

  2. Fry the lamb stones, sweetbreads, and oysters together until golden brown.

Simmer the gravy

  1. Pour off the butter and add the gravy, asparagus, nutmeg, pepper, salt, and shallots.

  2. Simmer for 10 minutes.

Thicken and serve

  1. Mix a little gravy with the beaten egg yolks.

  2. Combine with the rest of the gravy.

  3. Return to the pan and stir until thickened without boiling.

  4. Garnish with lemon and serve hot.

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. Asparagus + shallottop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together137 recipes

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

  2. Nutmeg + shallottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,019 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Nutmeg + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

  4. Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,083 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Lamb + asparagustop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together207 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Sweetbreads
Tender, delicate meat that becomes creamy and rich when fried and simmered in the sauce.
Eggs
Egg yolks thicken the gravy into a smooth, velvety sauce when stirred in gently.
Gravy
Forms the liquid base of the fricassee, carrying the flavor of the meats and oysters.
Oysters
Fried with the meats, they add a briny, savory flavor and a crisp golden edge.
Butter
Fat used for frying that browns the meats and adds richness to the dish.

The step that matters

Return to the pan and stir until thickened without boiling. Egg yolks curdle and turn grainy if they get too hot. Stirring over gentle heat without boiling lets the yolks thicken the sauce smoothly.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, oyster, butter, asparagus, pepper, shallot, white wine):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, oyster, butter, asparagus, pepper, shallot, white wine. 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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