Skip to main content
Main

Hot-pot

A baked mutton and potato hot pot with onions, mushrooms, kidneys, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Pepper and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Hot-pot

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Peel the potatoes.

  2. Remove the outside fat from the mutton chops.

Layer and bake

  1. Layer potatoes at the bottom of a round baking dish.

  2. Add a layer of trimmed mutton chops, seasoning, and a sprinkling of flour.

  3. Add the kidneys, skin removed and cut in halves.

  4. Repeat layering with more potatoes, mutton chops, kidneys, and mushrooms.

  5. Top with whole potatoes.

  6. Pour about 4 cups of stock over the layers.

  7. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 2 to 3 hours.

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. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  2. Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,023 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Parsley + oniontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,843 recipes

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

  5. Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,305 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 chops
Provide the meat that becomes tender and rich during the long, slow bake.
Potatoes
Form the base and top layers, absorbing stock and softening into a starchy, thickening layer.
Mutton kidneys
Add a distinctive, rich flavour and depth to the layered meat.
Flour
Dusted between layers to lightly thicken the juices as the dish bakes.

The step that matters

Pour the stock over the layers before baking. The stock supplies the liquid that cooks the meat and potatoes through during the long bake; without enough liquid the layers can dry out and scorch, and the flour needs moisture to thicken the juices.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, potato, pepper, parsley, flour, mushroom):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Spinachfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, potato, pepper, parsley, flour, 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.

You might also like

Mutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesPotato CroquettesPotato Croquettes255 recipesPotato RollsPotato Rolls78 recipesMushroom SoupMushroom Soup60 recipes