Why it works: Mushroom and truffle are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 1,900 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Remove the transparent skin from the fat of the lamb's saddle.
Make a slight oval incision on the upper part of the legs and pare off the skin.
Saw off the shank bones and the projecting part of the spine bone, then cut off the tail.
Truss the skirts neatly with small skewers.
Place the lamb on a spit for roasting and cover it with buttered white paper.
Roast the lamb for 2.5 hours before dinner.
Remove the paper 10 minutes before it's done to allow the larding to color.
Glaze the lamb well, then take it off the spit and dish it up.
Garnish with button mushrooms, truffles, cocks’ combs, and red tongue.
Surround with spoon-quenelles decorated with truffles and larded sweetbread.
Sauce with good Allemande sauce and glaze the lamb brightly before serving.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Mushroom + truffletop 2% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together1,900 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Butter + mushroomtop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together12,516 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Butter + truffletop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together2,209 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
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Lamb + mushroomtop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Butter + saucetop 8% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together15,317 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter and sauce share little aroma chemistry, yet 15,317 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
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