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Mutton, Breast of

A mutton breast stuffed with a breadcrumb, suet, shallot, herb, and egg mixture, then roasted.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Mutton, Breast of

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Mix all dry ingredients together, adding salt and pepper to taste.

  2. Moisten the mixture with the egg and enough milk to bind it.

Stuff and roast

  1. Press the mixture into the cavity of the mutton breast and secure the opening.

  2. Roast in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 2 to 2.5 hours.

Serve

  1. Serve with brown sauce or gravy.

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. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 recipes

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

  2. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

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

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

  4. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

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

  5. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Binds the stuffing so it holds together in the cavity.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb moisture and give the stuffing body and structure.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the stuffing moist and rich during roasting.
Shallots
Add mild savoury flavour to the stuffing as they soften.

The step that matters

Securing the stuffed cavity. If the opening is not closed firmly, the stuffing can loosen or escape during roasting. A well-sealed cavity keeps the filling inside and helps it cook through evenly with the meat.

Swap the shallot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (parsley, lemon, nutmeg, pepper, egg, milk, sauce):

  1. Shallotthe original
  2. Capsicumfits about as well
  3. Spinachfits about as well
  4. Carrotfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against parsley, lemon, nutmeg, pepper, egg, milk, sauce. 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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