Skip to main content
Main

Cutlets, Mutton, Neck

Mutton neck cutlets served with split pea puree and tomato sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 18 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Thyme and sage match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,485 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Cutlets, Mutton, Neck

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the cutlets

  1. Remove the tops of the bones from the neck of mutton and cut the meat off.

  2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan.

  3. Add parsley, thyme, sage, bay leaf, onion, cloves, and mignonette pepper; stir for 1 minute.

  4. Add the cutlets to the pan.

  5. Pour the wine over them.

  6. Cover and cook gently for 15 minutes.

  7. Remove the cutlets.

  8. Drain well.

  9. Let them cool.

Coat and fry

  1. Brush the cutlets with French mustard.

  2. Sprinkle with curry powder.

  3. Coat with beaten egg and seasoned crumbs.

  4. Dip the cutlets into boiling fat until brown and crisp.

  5. Drain.

Serve

  1. Serve the cutlets in a ring around a puree of split peas.

  2. Garnish with croutons spread with thick tomato sauce mixed with finely chopped hot pickles.

  3. Pour a pint of tomato sauce around the base, mixing in any wine from the stewpan.

  4. Serve hot.

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. Thyme + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,485 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Parsley + sagetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,445 recipes

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

  4. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

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

  5. Thyme + clovetop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,108 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

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

What each ingredient does

Neck of mutton
Provides the meat for the cutlets, which turns tender when gently simmered in wine.
Butter
Adds richness and fat to the pan, carrying the aromatics and helping the cutlets brown.
Beaten egg
Binds the seasoned crumbs to the cutlets so the coating adheres during frying.
Seasoned crumbs
Form a crisp, browned outer crust when the cutlets are fried in hot fat.
Tomato sauce
Adds moisture and acidity, forming the sauce that surrounds the cutlets.
Light wine
Adds acidity and aroma while moistening the meat during gentle cooking.

The step that matters

Dip the cutlets into boiling fat until brown and crisp. The coating must be fully dry and firmly set before frying; otherwise it can slip off or absorb excess fat. Hot fat seals the crumb quickly, creating a crisp crust while keeping the meat inside tender.

Swap the onion

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

  1. Carrotfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Parsnipfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, butter, parsley, thyme, sage, clove, pepper. 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.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesMutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipesTomato BisqueTomato Bisque61 recipes