Why it works: Mutton and sauce are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,087 recipes. Both carry decanoic acid, which smells soapy, waxy. The science ↓
Mutton, Hashed
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Cut the cold mutton into thin slices.
Boil the bones and trimmings to make stock for the brown sauce.
Assemble
In a greased pie dish, layer breadcrumbs, then add 2-3 tablespoons of brown sauce.
Arrange the slices of mutton slightly overlapping on top.
Sprinkle with chopped pickles, salt, and pepper.
Cover lightly with breadcrumbs and sauce, repeating the layers until all ingredients are used.
Make the top layer thick with breadcrumbs.
Bake and serve
Cover with greased paper and bake gently at 300°F (150°C) for about 1 hour.
Serve in the dish it was cooked in.
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 + saucetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,087 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cold mutton
- Provides the meat, arranged in slices that become tender during gentle baking.
- Breadcrumbs
- Form the layers that soak up sauce and give the hash body and a firm top.
- Brown sauce
- Adds moisture and savory flavor that keeps the layers from drying out.
- Pickles
- Add acidity and sharp flavor that cut through the richness of the meat.
The step that matters
Bake gently with the paper cover. Low, gentle heat under a greased paper cover warms the cold meat through without drying or toughening it, while the sauce keeps the layers moist.
“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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