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Curried Mutton Chops

Curried mutton chops coated in butter, bread crumbs, and spices, baked until tender.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Curried Mutton Chops

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Soak the rib chops in melted butter for several hours.

  2. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  3. Melt the butter again in a pan.

  4. Mix the bread crumbs, egg yolks, parsley, onion, thyme, marjoram, salt, black pepper, red pepper, and curry powder thoroughly.

  5. Dip the chops in the mixture and place them in a deep pan.

Cook and serve

  1. Add melted butter and enough wine to prevent burning.

  2. Cook for 20 minutes, basting frequently.

  3. Butter heart‑shaped papers and wrap each chop, folding the edges carefully.

  4. Bake for 2 minutes and serve very hot.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Marjoram + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,609 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rib chops
Main protein that is cooked through and carries the flavour of the dish.
Melted butter
Adds fat and moisture, helping the chops stay juicy and browning.
Stale bread
Forms the crumb coating that holds the seasoning and gives the chops a crisp, textured crust.
Egg yolks
Bind the crumb mixture so it adheres evenly to the chops and adds richness.
Curry powder
Provides the main spiced aroma and flavour of the dish.

The step that matters

Adding wine and butter before cooking. Liquid in the deep pan keeps the coating from scorching in the oven. Too little liquid lets the crumb coating burn before the chops are cooked through.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, bread, egg, parsley, thyme, marjoram, pepper):

  1. Shallotfits better
  2. Carrotfits better
  3. Leekfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, bread, egg, parsley, thyme, marjoram, pepper. 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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