Why it works: Parsley and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,737 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Mutton Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the cutlets
Detach the meat from the bone of the cutlet, leaving one end attached, then turn the meat back around the bone.
Smear with beaten egg.
Coat generously with bread crumbs mixed with salt and pepper.
Let the cutlets rest for 30 minutes.
Repeat the egg and bread crumb process.
Fry
Fry the cutlets in plenty of butter or fat until golden brown, but not too dark.
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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Parsley + shallottop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,737 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Pepper + shallottop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,898 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Mutton + breadtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,488 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton cutlets
- Provide the meat that is shaped around the bone and cooked through in frying.
- Egg
- Binds the bread crumb coating to the meat so it stays in place during frying.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, golden outer crust when fried in fat.
The step that matters
Frying to golden brown, not too dark. Frying in plenty of hot butter or fat browns the crumb coating through the Maillard reaction. Too much heat or time darkens and can scorch the crumbs before the meat is cooked through.
Swap the parsley
The recipe marks parsley as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, egg, bread, pepper, butter, shallot):
- Parsleythe original
- Capersfits about as well
- Tarragonfits less well
- Nutmegfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, egg, bread, pepper, butter, shallot. 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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