Why it works: Turnip and capers match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 145 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Mutton-Chops Delicately Stewed
Ingredients
Directions
Make the stock
Place the mutton chops in a stew pan and cover with cold water.
Add the onion to the pan.
Bring to a boil, skimming off any scum that rises.
Reduce heat and simmer for about 1.5 hours until tender.
Remove the chops and keep warm.
Prepare the gravy and vegetables
Pass the gravy through a sieve into a basin.
Set the gravy in the open air to cool, then skim off the fat.
Boil the carrots for 30 minutes and the turnips for 15 minutes.
Drain the carrots and turnips and set aside.
In a separate pan, melt the butter and stir in enough flour to thicken.
Gradually add the gravy to the butter and flour mixture, stirring until it boils.
Serve
Strain the thickened gravy back into the pan, add the carrots and turnips, and warm gently.
Arrange the chops on a serving dish, place the vegetables in the center, and pour the thickened gravy over.
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.
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Turnip + caperstop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together145 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together8,002 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + turniptop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,585 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21,601 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Flour + caperstop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,024 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 during long simmering and flavours the stock.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that carries flavour in the thickened gravy.
- Flour
- Thickens the gravy into a smooth, coating sauce when cooked with butter.
- Carrots
- Add natural sweetness and a tender, soft texture to the stew.
- Turnips
- Contribute mild sweetness and a soft texture once boiled.
The step that matters
Skimming the scum and fat. Skimming scum as the stock comes to a boil keeps the broth clean, and cooling then skimming the fat removes excess grease so the gravy tastes clear and is not greasy.
Swap the capers
The recipe marks capers as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, onion, carrot, turnip, butter, flour):
- Parsleyfits about as well
- Capersthe original
- Celeryfits about as well
- Thymefits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, onion, carrot, turnip, butter, flour. 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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