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Mutton Collops

Mutton collops are thin slices of mutton seasoned and fried, then simmered in gravy, lemon juice, and butter‑flour mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and thyme match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Mutton Collops

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Cut thin collops from the loin of mutton, removing sinews.

  2. Season the collops with salt, pepper, and mace.

  3. Sprinkle with shredded parsley, thyme, and shallots.

Cook and serve

  1. Fry in butter until half-cooked.

  2. Add gravy, lemon juice, and butter mixed with flour.

  3. Simmer gently for 5 minutes.

  4. Serve immediately to avoid hardening.

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. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Thyme + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

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

  5. Thyme + shallottop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,476 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton loin
Forms the tender meat that the collops are cut from and cooked.
Butter rubbed in flour
Thickens the gravy so the sauce coats the meat rather than running thin.
Gravy
Provides the liquid base that moistens the meat and carries the flavour.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich mutton and gravy.
Shallots
Add a mild onion-like sweetness and aroma as they cook in the butter.

The step that matters

Serve immediately. Mutton collops are thin and cook quickly; held too long, the meat toughens and hardens as proteins tighten and moisture is lost, so serving straight after the gentle simmer keeps it tender.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pepper, parsley, thyme, shallot, butter, lemon):

  1. Marjoramfits better
  2. Tarragonfits better
  3. Winter savoryfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, pepper, parsley, thyme, shallot, butter, lemon. 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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