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Hot Pot of Hodge Podge

A casserole of mutton, potatoes, and onion cooked in a hot pot with stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Hot Pot of Hodge Podge

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 375°F (190°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Wash, peel, and slice the potatoes.

  2. Peel and slice the onion.

  3. Par-fry the potatoes and onion separately.

  4. Trim the mutton and cut it into conveniently-sized pieces.

  5. Lightly fry the mutton in a pan with the dripping.

Assemble and bake

  1. Line a hot pot jar with alternate layers of potatoes, meat, and onion. Season each layer with salt, pepper, and a pinch of dried savory herbs.

  2. Moisten with the stock, cover the jar, and cook in a fairly hot oven at 375°F (190°C) for about 1.5 hours.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove excess fat before serving.

  2. Sprinkle chopped parsley on top before serving.

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

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

  2. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

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

  4. Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

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

  5. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton
Provides the main meat flavour and, as it cooks slowly, becomes tender and juicy.
Potatoes
Form the layers that bulk out the dish and soften into a starchy, tender texture.
Onion
Adds sweetness and savoury depth as it softens between the layers.
Stock
Moistens the layers and keeps the meat and potatoes from drying out during baking.
Dripping
Adds fat for frying the mutton, carrying flavour and helping it brown.

The step that matters

Moisten with the stock and cover the jar. Covering the jar traps steam so the meat and potatoes cook gently in their own moisture. Without enough stock, the mutton can dry out and toughen during the long bake.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, potato, parsley, pepper):

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, potato, parsley, pepper. 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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