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Kntkees of Mutton

Braised mutton cutlets larded with bacon, seasoned with peppercorns, mace, and brandy, served after slow cooking.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,053 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Kntkees of Mutton

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Cut mutton into thick cutlets.

  2. Place cutlets on a dish without trimming.

  3. Cut bacon into narrow strips, about ¼ inch square and 1½ inches long.

  4. Insert bacon strips into each cutlet with a larding pin, repeating until each is studded with 8 strips.

  5. Stew trimmings in a large stewpan.

Braise

  1. Arrange cutlets in a circular order with bone ends pointing to the center.

  2. Cover cutlets with remaining trimmings.

  3. Garnish with carrots, onion, parsley, and celery.

  4. Season with peppercorns and mace.

  5. Moisten with brandy and enough broth to cover.

  6. Cover with buttered paper. Place lid on.

  7. Braise gently in a slow oven (300°F/150°C) for about 1½ hours.

Cool and press

  1. Remove from heat.

  2. Let cool in the liquid.

  3. Carefully take out cutlets one at a time.

  4. Place cutlets in rows on a large dish. Press slightly with another dish to create an even surface.

  5. Let cool completely.

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. Carrot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,053 recipes

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

  2. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Parsley + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,810 recipes

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

  4. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Carrot + oniontop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 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 cutlets
Provide the main meat, which becomes tender during slow braising.
Fat bacon
Larded through the cutlets to add fat, moisture and savoury flavour as it melts.
Brandy
Adds aromatic flavour that carries through the braising liquid.
Broth or stock
Provides the braising liquid that keeps the meat moist and gently cooks it.
Onion
Adds savoury, aromatic sweetness to the braising liquid.

The step that matters

Braise gently in a slow oven. Low, steady heat lets the connective tissue in the mutton break down slowly into gelatin, giving tender meat. Higher heat or a boil would toughen and dry the cutlets.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, carrot, onion, clove, parsley, celery, brandy):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Allspicefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, carrot, onion, clove, parsley, celery, brandy. 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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