Name: Lamb, Boiled
Ingredients: leg of lamb; peas; carrots; white sauce or Bechamel sauce

Why it works: Peas and carrot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,994 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Lamb, Boiled

Ingredients

leg of lamb
peas
carrots
white sauce or Bechamel sauce

Directions

Select a leg of lamb for boiling.
Skim the surface frequently to maintain the meat's color.
Ensure the cooking liquid does not overpower the lamb's delicate flavor.
Cook peas and carrots separately.
Serve the lamb with a good white sauce or Bechamel sauce.

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.

Peas + carrottop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,994 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
Lamb + peastop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together650 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Lamb + carrottop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together724 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lamb + saucetop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together925 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).
Carrot + saucetop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,509 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).