Name: To Stew Lamb’s Head
Ingredients: 1 lamb's head; 2 pounds veal; 2 pounds beef suet; a little thyme; 1 piece lemon peel, minced; 1/4 nutmeg, grated; 2 anchovies; 2 stale rolls, grated; 4 egg yolks; 1/2 pint fresh mushrooms, cleaned and washed; 6 egg yolks, chopped; 1/2 pint oysters, cleaned and washed; 2 quarts gravy; 1-2 blades mace; 1/2 ounce truffles, chopped; 1/2 ounce morels, chopped; a little chopped parsley; a little grated nutmeg; 1 egg yolk for frying

Why it works: Thyme and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,973 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,973 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Thyme + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,907 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,232 recipes

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

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together896 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Thyme + mushroomtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,557 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Bind the meatball and brain mixtures so they hold their shape when fried.
Stale rolls: Absorb moisture and add body to the meatball mixture, helping it bind.
Beef suet: Adds fat that keeps the meatballs moist and rich as they cook.
Veal: Provides the main meat body of the meatballs and gives a tender texture.
Mushrooms: Add savory, earthy flavor to the gravy.
Truffles: Add a concentrated, aromatic earthy flavor to the finished gravy.

The step that matters

Fry the brain cakes and meatballs. The mixtures are held together only by egg and starch, so they can break apart if the oil is not hot enough or they are moved too early. Frying until a crust forms sets the outside before they are arranged on the head.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, veal, beef, thyme, lemon, egg, mushroom):

Marjoramfits better
Parsleyfits better
Rosemaryfits better
Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, veal, beef, thyme, lemon, egg, mushroom. 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.

To Stew Lamb’s Head