Why it works: Carrot and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,555 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Chops with Gravy
Ingredients
Directions
Brown and layer
Melt butter in a frying pan over medium heat.
Fry the chops for 1 minute on each side until lightly browned.
Remove the chops and fry the vegetables in the same fat for a few minutes.
Dredge flour over the chops and place them in a stewpan.
Layer the fried vegetables on top of the chops.
Pour in enough warm water or stock to just cover the chops.
Simmer
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer gently for about 1.5 hours until tender.
Make the gravy and serve
Pour off most of the liquid and cool it in a basin surrounded by cold water.
Remove the fat from the cooled liquid, season with pepper and salt.
Add ketchup and sugar browning, then heat until very hot.
Arrange the chops on a dish, pour the gravy over them, and serve.
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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Carrot + peppertop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,555 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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Carrot + peastop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,994 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).
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Carrot + walnuttop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together506 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,165 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Lamb or pork chops
- Provide the meat that is browned and then tenderised by long, gentle simmering.
- All-purpose flour
- Dredged over the chops to help thicken the cooking liquid into gravy.
- Butter
- Fat for browning the chops and vegetables, adding flavour to the dish.
- Mixed vegetables
- Add sweetness and body to the gravy as they soften during simmering.
- Walnut or mushroom ketchup
- Adds concentrated savoury, umami depth to the gravy.
The step that matters
Cooling and skimming the liquid. Pouring off the liquid and chilling it lets the fat rise and set on top, so it can be removed. Skimming before reheating keeps the gravy from tasting greasy and makes it clearer.
Swap the peas
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, butter, carrot, flour, pepper, walnut, sugar):
- Almondfits better
- Cashew nutfits better
- Pistachiofits better
- Peasthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, butter, carrot, flour, pepper, walnut, sugar. 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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