Why it works: Mutton and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,442 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Mutton Chop
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim the chop neatly and season with salt and pepper.
Preheat a hanging gridiron or a grill over the fire and grease the bars.
Grill
Place the chop on the grill, avoiding piercing the meat.
Brown one side, then turn the chop and brown the other side.
Repeat turning the chop until it has been turned six times.
Cook for about 10 minutes for a chop that is ¾ inch thick.
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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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton loin chop
- Provides the meat that browns and cooks through over the fire.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the surface of the meat and helps form a flavourful crust.
The step that matters
Avoid piercing the meat. Piercing lets juices escape, which dries the chop and reduces its moisture. Turning with tongs and keeping the surface intact preserves juiciness while the outside browns.
“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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