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Mutton and Tomatoes

A baked casserole of sliced mutton and tomatoes layered with breadcrumbs, gravy, butter, salt, and pepper.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mutton and Tomatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Cut the mutton into thin slices and slice the tomatoes.

  2. Grease a baking dish and place a layer of tomatoes at the bottom.

Layer

  1. Cover the tomatoes lightly with breadcrumbs and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

  2. Layer the slices of mutton on top and repeat the layers until all ingredients are used, ensuring the last layer is tomatoes.

  3. Pour the gravy over the top and sprinkle thickly with brown breadcrumbs.

  4. Dot with butter and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve warm.

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. Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

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

  2. Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together5,442 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  3. Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  4. Mutton + tomatotop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together452 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 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
Provides the main meat and savoury flavour as the bulk of the casserole.
Tomatoes
Add moisture and acidity that brighten the rich meat during baking.
Brown breadcrumbs
Absorb juices between layers and form a crisp, browned topping.
Gravy
Adds moisture and savour, softening the layers as they bake.
Butter
Adds richness and helps the breadcrumb topping brown.

The step that matters

Layering and the gravy pour. Pouring the gravy over the top before baking lets it soak down through the layers, keeping the mutton moist; if it is too dry the meat can toughen and the casserole can scorch on top.

Swap the tomato

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

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Capsicumfits better
  3. Carrotfits about as well
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, butter, 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.

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