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Neck, or Breast of Lamb

A boiled lamb neck or breast served with peas, cauliflower, asparagus, vegetable marrow, small potatoes, butter, and parsley.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Cauliflower and asparagus match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 163 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-one, which smells mushroom, metallic. The science ↓

Neck, or Breast of Lamb

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the lamb

  1. Wash and clean the neck or breast of lamb.

Cook

  1. Place the meat in a pot with cold water and bring to a gentle boil.

  2. Skim the surface and boil for about 30 minutes until done.

Serve

  1. Serve with green peas, cauliflower, asparagus, or vegetable marrow, along with small potatoes.

  2. Accompany with melted butter or parsley and butter.

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. Cauliflower + asparagustop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together163 recipes

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

  2. Peas + asparagustop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together808 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Asparagus + potatotop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together217 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,855 recipes

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

  5. Peas + cauliflowertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together313 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

Neck or breast of lamb
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender through long gentle simmering.
Green peas
Add sweetness and a fresh, bright flavour alongside the rich meat.
Cauliflower
Adds mild bulk and a soft, tender texture to the plate.
Asparagus
Contributes green flavour and a tender bite to the vegetables.
Small potatoes
Add starch and a soft, filling texture that absorbs the cooking flavours.
Melted butter
Adds fat and richness, carrying flavour across the meat and vegetables.

The step that matters

Skimming and gentle boiling. Keeping the water at a gentle boil and skimming foam prevents cloudy broth and a greasy surface, and lets the meat cook evenly and become tender rather than tough.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, cauliflower, asparagus, potato, butter, parsley):

  1. Beansfits better
  2. Lentilsfits about as well
  3. Almondfits about as well
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, cauliflower, asparagus, potato, butter, parsley. 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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