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A Pepper-pot to Be Served in a Tureen

A stew of mutton, pickled pork, vegetables, and lobster or crab, seasoned with salt and cayenne pepper, served in a tureen.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Lettuce and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 427 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

A Pepper-pot to Be Served in a Tureen

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a large pot, combine 3 quarts of water with chopped seasonal vegetables.

  2. Add 2 pounds of neck of mutton or a fowl and 1 pound of pickled pork.

  3. Bring to a boil, then skim off any foam.

Simmer and finish

  1. Simmer until the meat is tender.

  2. Half an hour before serving, add a lobster or crab, removed from the shell.

  3. Season with salt and cayenne pepper.

  4. Add a small amount of rice with the meat.

  5. If fat rises, skim it off and mix ½ cup of water with a little flour to thicken.

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. Lettuce + spinachtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together427 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Lettuce + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together526 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  4. Carrot + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,002 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  5. Spinach + turniptop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together320 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

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

What each ingredient does

Neck of mutton or fowl
Gives the broth its meaty flavor and richness as it simmers.
Pickled pork
Adds salty, savory depth to the broth.
Seasonal vegetables
Contribute sweetness, body and vegetable flavor to the broth.
Lobster or crab
Adds delicate sweet seafood flavor and tender texture when added late.
Rice
Adds body and starch that gives the soup a slightly thicker texture.
Flour
Thickens the liquid as it is stirred in, giving the broth more body.

The step that matters

Adding the lobster or crab late. Shellfish cooks quickly and turns tough and rubbery if simmered too long. Adding it half an hour before serving keeps it tender while still flavoring the broth.

Swap the peas

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lettuce, spinach, carrot, turnip, celery, onion, mutton):

  1. Lentilsfits better
  2. Beansfits better
  3. Chickpeafits better
  4. Peasthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lettuce, spinach, carrot, turnip, celery, onion, mutton. 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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