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Mutton, Neck Of, Browned

A browned neck of mutton served with a gravy made from butter, flour, and stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 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 ↓

Mutton, Neck Of, Browned

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the meat

  1. Saw the rib bones across and remove the short ends.

  2. Fold the flap under and bind securely.

  3. Place the meat in a stewpan with boiling stock or water to barely cover it.

  4. Simmer gently for 1 hour, then drain well.

Coat and bake

  1. Beat the egg and mix in parsley, herbs, salt, and pepper.

  2. Coat the meat thickly with the egg mixture.

  3. Cover lightly with breadcrumbs and bake at 400°F (200°C) until well browned, basting frequently with hot fat.

Make the sauce

  1. In a separate stewpan, heat the butter, add the flour, and cook slowly until browned.

  2. Add 1 pint of boiling stock, stir until boiling, season to taste, and simmer gently until required.

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. Butter + breadtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together27,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Mutton + breadtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,488 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Flour + parsleytop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together16,675 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton neck
Provides the meat that is simmered, then browned in the oven.
Egg
Binds the parsley and herbs so they stick to the meat before the crumbs are added.
Breadcrumbs (in the method)
Form a crisp, browned crust over the coated meat in the oven.
Butter
Carries the flour for the sauce and adds richness and flavour.
Flour
Thickens the sauce when cooked in butter until browned.

The step that matters

Simmer gently for 1 hour, then drain well. Gentle simmering keeps the meat tender without breaking it apart. Draining well removes surface liquid so the egg and crumb coating can cling and brown rather than steam.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, butter, flour, egg, bread, pepper):

  1. Parsleythe original
  2. Nutmegfits about as well
  3. Capersfits less well
  4. Turmericfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, butter, flour, egg, bread, 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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