Why it works: Potato and peas 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 ↓
Lamb or Mutton Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the meat
Saw off the chine bone from the mutton and remove all gristle.
Cut the bones short and trim off most of the fat.
Divide the meat into cutlets, making some with bones and some without.
Insert a skewer into the cutlets without bones to keep them firm.
Coat and fry
Dip each cutlet in egg, then coat with breadcrumbs.
Fry in hot dripping for about 3 minutes until golden.
Drain on paper and serve around a border of potatoes with a center of peas or other vegetables.
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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Potato + peastop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,016 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Mutton + peastop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together598 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Mutton + potatotop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together293 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + peastop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,065 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-octenal (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
- Mutton
- Provides the meat for the cutlets, with bones giving shape and flavour to the chops.
- Egg
- Binds the breadcrumb coating so it adheres to the cutlet during frying.
- Breadcrumbs
- Form a crisp, golden coating that browns during frying and seals in moisture.
- Hot dripping
- Conducts heat quickly to brown and crisp the coating while cooking the meat.
The step that matters
Fry in hot dripping for about 3 minutes until golden. The fat must be hot enough to brown the breadcrumb coating quickly. If the fat is too cool, the coating absorbs grease and turns soggy before the meat cooks through.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, egg, peas):
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, egg, peas. 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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