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Mutton-Kidneys, in Champagne Wine

A dish of sliced mutton kidneys cooked with suet, spices, parsley, mushrooms, flour, and Champagne wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Mutton-Kidneys, in Champagne Wine

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

  1. Peel and slice the kidneys thinly.

  2. In a stew‑pan, combine kidneys and minced beef suet.

  3. Season with pepper, salt, nutmeg, parsley, and mushrooms.

  4. Cook over medium heat, tossing frequently.

  5. Once they begin to cook, sprinkle in flour and add Champagne.

  6. Stir continuously for 4 to 5 minutes.

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. Nutmeg + parsleytop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

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

  3. Beef + mushroomtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  4. Pepper + nutmegtop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13,015 recipes

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

  5. Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 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 kidneys
Form the main body of the dish and provide its rich, meaty texture.
Minced beef suet
Adds fat that enriches the sauce and keeps the kidneys moist as they cook.
Flour
Thickens the cooking liquid into a smoother, glossier sauce.
Champagne or light sweet white wine
Provides liquid and acidity that loosens the flour into a light sauce.

The step that matters

Stir continuously after adding the flour and Champagne. Flour dispersed in liquid can clump if left still, so constant stirring keeps the sauce smooth as it thickens. Kidneys cooked too long also turn tough and rubbery, so timing matters.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Marjoramfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, beef, pepper, parsley, mushroom, flour, champagne. 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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