Name: Lamb Cutlets
Ingredients: Lamb cutlets; Chopped mint; 3 tablespoons tomato sauce; Pepper to taste; Coarse sea salt to taste; 1 tablespoon brandy; ⅓ cup good stock; 1 small lump butter rolled in flour

Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Lamb Cutlets

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

Trim the lamb cutlets neatly.

Cook

In a sauté pan, lay the cutlets with chopped mint, tomato sauce, pepper, salt, brandy, stock, and butter.
Cook in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 12 minutes.

Serve

Serve with asparagus or a compote of cherries in the center.

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.

Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mint + peppertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,372 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Mint + tomatotop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together828 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Lamb + tomatotop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together979 recipes

Shared aroma: trans,trans-2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,165 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Lamb cutlets: The main protein, which cooks quickly and stays tender when not overcooked.
Tomato sauce: Adds acidity and body to the pan liquid, building a savory sauce.
Butter rolled in flour: Melts into the pan liquid and thickens it slightly, adding richness.
Brandy: Adds aroma and depth to the pan sauce as it cooks down.

Swap the mint

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, tomato, sauce, pepper, brandy, butter, flour):

Parsleyfits better
Capersfits better
Cinnamonfits better
Mintthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, tomato, sauce, pepper, brandy, butter, flour. 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.