Why it works: Lemon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,318 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Fricasseed Lambstones
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Skin, wash, and dry the lambstones, then flour them.
Fry and drain
Fry the lambstones in hog's lard until golden brown.
Place them on a sieve before the fire.
Make the sauce
Thicken veal gravy with flour and butter in a pan.
Add lemon slice, mushroom ketchup, lemon pickle, nutmeg, and beaten egg yolk mixed with cream.
Heat the sauce without boiling, then add the fried lambstones.
Shake gently over the fire for 1-2 minutes.
Serve
Serve immediately in a hot dish.
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.
-
Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
-
Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Mushroom + nutmegtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,988 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lambstones
- Provide the tender meat that is the main element of the dish.
- Flour
- Coats the meat for browning and thickens the gravy into a smooth sauce.
- Egg yolk
- Enriches and thickens the sauce, giving it a smooth, rich texture.
- Thick cream
- Adds richness and body to the sauce, softening its flavour.
- Veal gravy
- Forms the liquid base of the sauce, adding savoury depth.
The step that matters
Heat the sauce without boiling. Egg yolk in the sauce can curdle and turn grainy if it boils, so it should be heated gently until just warm and thickened before the lambstones are added.
“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.
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Mushroom Soup60 recipes
Veal Patties50 recipes
Beef, Mutton, or Veal Broth6 recipes