Name: Lamb Cutlets, a LA Chevreuse
Ingredients: Lamb cutlets (2 ribs each); 2 ounces grated Parmesan cheese; Beaten egg; Bread crumbs; Hog's lard (for frying); Truffles (for filling); Mushrooms (for filling); Fat livers (for filling); Supreme sauce (for serving)

Why it works: Truffle and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,900 recipes. Both carry 2,4-nonadienal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Lamb Cutlets, a LA Chevreuse

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cutlets

Cut lamb into thick cutlets, allowing two ribs for each.
Prepare and braise the cutlets as you would veal cutlets.
Once cooked, press and trim the cutlets.
Mask cutlets with a puree of onions mixed with Parmesan cheese.
When cold, dip cutlets in beaten egg and roll in bread crumbs.
Shape cutlets with a knife and place in a dish until ready to cook.

Fry and serve

Fry cutlets in heated hog's lard until bright yellow.
Dish up the cutlets and place a small paper frill on each bone.
Fill the center with small circular scallops of truffles, mushrooms, and fat livers tossed in Supreme sauce.
Pour some of the sauce around the base and serve.

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.

Truffle + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,900 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Parmesan cheese + mushroomtop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,199 recipes

Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (apple, fatty).
Bread + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,536 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Lamb + mushroomtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Parmesan cheese + truffletop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together140 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Lamb cutlets: Forms the main body of the dish, cooked through by braising before being breaded and fried.
Parmesan cheese: Adds savory, salty flavor and helps the onion puree coat the cutlets.
Beaten egg: Acts as a binder so the bread crumbs adhere to the cutlets.
Bread crumbs: Forms a crisp, golden coating that browns when fried.
Hog's lard: Conducts heat for frying and browns the bread-crumb coating.
Truffles: Contributes a strong earthy aroma to the filling.

The step that matters

Fry cutlets in heated hog's lard until bright yellow. The fat must be hot enough to brown the crumb coating quickly; if it is too cool, the crumbs absorb grease and turn soggy instead of crisp.

“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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Lamb Cutlets, a LA Chevreuse