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To Hash Mutton

A simple hash of thinly sliced mutton cooked with onion, water, and optional seasonings.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

To Hash Mutton

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Flour the slices of mutton.

  2. Boil the onion in water until soft.

Make the hash

  1. Add gravy and seasoned meat to the onion.

  2. Heat gently without boiling.

Serve

  1. Serve in a covered dish.

  2. Add clove, currant jelly, and port wine for a different flavor.

  3. Warm pickled cucumber or walnuts for a change.

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 + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  2. Onion + cucumbertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Currant + port winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together356 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  4. Clove + cucumbertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,319 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton
Forms the main body of the hash, providing meaty flavor and the substance of the dish.
Flour
Coats the meat so it browns lightly and helps thicken the gravy around it.
Onion
Softens into the liquid, adding sweetness and savory depth to the hash.
Gravy
Supplies moisture and savory richness that keeps the meat tender and cohesive.

The step that matters

Heat gently without boiling. Boiling toughens meat proteins and makes them dry and stringy, so the hash should only be warmed slowly until heated through.

Swap the clove

The recipe marks clove as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, flour, onion, pepper, currant, port wine, cucumber):

  1. Turmericfits about as well
  2. Allspicefits about as well
  3. Thymefits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, flour, onion, pepper, currant, port wine, cucumber. 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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