Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓
Lamb Chops
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the chops
Rub the lamb chops with the beaten egg yolk.
Dip the chops into grated bread mixed with chopped parsley, lemon peel, pepper, and salt.
Fry and make the sauce
Fry the chops in good dripping until light brown.
Make a sauce with the trimmings, thickening it with butter rolled in flour.
Add a little lemon pickle and mushroom catsup to the sauce.
Garnish and serve
Garnish the dish with fried parsley and serve with or without gravy.
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 + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,037 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
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Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together34,122 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together27,047 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Lamb + parsleytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,322 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Neck or loin of lamb
- Forms the main body of the dish, cooked by frying until light brown.
- Grated bread
- Forms a crumb coating that browns during frying and gives the chops a crisp exterior.
- Beaten egg yolk
- Acts as a binder so the crumb coating adheres to the chops.
- Butter
- Enriches the sauce and, rolled in flour, thickens it smoothly.
- Lemon pickle
- Adds sharp, acidic flavour to the sauce.
- Mushroom catsup
- Adds savoury, umami depth to the sauce.
The step that matters
Frying the chops in dripping until light brown. Frying over steady heat browns the crumb coating and sets the crust before the lamb overcooks. Too hot and the coating darkens or burns before the meat is cooked through; too cool and the chops absorb fat and turn greasy.
“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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