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 ↓
Mutton Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Season the mutton cutlets with salt and pepper.
Dip each cutlet in beaten eggs, then coat with breadcrumbs.
Cook and serve
Heat butter in a pan over medium heat.
Fry the cutlets until golden brown on both sides.
Serve hot.
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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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together85,593 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
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Mutton + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,648 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
- Mutton cutlets
- Main protein that is cooked through and becomes the body of the dish.
- Eggs
- Bind the breadcrumb coating to the cutlet so it holds together during frying.
- Breadcrumbs
- Form a crisp outer crust that browns when fried.
- Butter
- Conducts heat in the pan and adds fat for browning and rich flavour.
The step that matters
Fry the cutlets until golden brown on both sides. If the pan is too cool, the breadcrumb coating absorbs fat and turns greasy instead of crisp. If too hot, it browns before the meat cooks through. Medium heat lets the crust brown while the inside heats evenly.
“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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