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 ↓
Haricot Mutton Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the mutton
Cut the mutton into steaks and trim them neatly.
Cook
Fry the steaks until three-quarters cooked and nicely colored.
Place the steaks in a stewpan and add a little liquid to prevent burning.
Simmer the steaks until tender.
Serve
Arrange the steaks on a dish and pour haricot sauce over them.
Strain and skim the essence from the stewpan and add it to the sauce.
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
- Mutton
- Provides the meat that becomes tender and flavorful after frying and simmering.
- Haricot sauce
- Adds moisture and richness over the cooked steaks.
The step that matters
Adding a little liquid before simmering. Only a small amount of liquid is added so the steaks can simmer gently without burning on the pan base. Too much liquid would dilute the browned surface built up by frying.
“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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