Why it works: Mutton and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,442 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓
Soyer's New Mutton-Chop
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim the saddle of mutton and cut it into chops ½ inch thick using a saw.
Shape the chops and season them well with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Cook and serve
Place the chops on a grill over a sharp fire, turning them three or four times.
Cook for about 10 minutes until done.
Dress the chops on a hot dish and spread a small piece of butter over each, if desired.
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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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,781 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton
- The main meat; its fat and connective tissue add rich flavour and juiciness when grilled.
The step that matters
Grilling until done. A sharp fire browns the outside through the Maillard reaction, but a half-inch chop can overcook before the centre is ready. Turning the chops several times spreads heat evenly, so judge doneness by the chop itself, not the clock alone.
“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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