Name: Mutton Hashed Venison Fashion
Ingredients: ¾ pound cold mutton, sliced ⅓ inch thick; ¼ teaspoon coarse sea salt; ¼ teaspoon white pepper; 2 teaspoons baked flour; ¼ pint strong strained gravy; 1 kidney, chopped; 1 shallot, chopped; ¼ small carrot, chopped; 2 ounces sheep’s liver, chopped; 1 tablespoon red currant jelly; ⅙ cup good Port wine; French beans, for serving

Why it works: Flour and shallot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,081 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

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.

Flour + shallottop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,081 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Shallot + carrottop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together803 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Shallot + port winetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together380 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Shallot + red curranttop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together49 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Red currant + port winetop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118 recipes

Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

Mutton: Provides the main body of the hash as the meat that gives it substance and bite.
Baked flour: Coats the mutton and thickens the gravy as it simmers.
Strained gravy: Supplies the liquid that moistens and flavours the hash as it simmers.
Kidney: Adds a rich, savoury, meaty depth to the sauce.
Sheep’s liver: Adds a rich, deep, savoury flavour and body to the sauce.
Red currant jelly: Adds sweetness and a tart fruitiness that balances the rich meats.

The step that matters

Simmering gently over low heat. A gentle simmer keeps the meat and liver tender and lets the flour thicken the gravy smoothly. A hard boil toughens the meat and can make the sauce lumpy or bitter.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, flour, shallot, carrot, liver, red currant, port wine):

Thymefits better
Parsleyfits better
Capersfits better
White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, flour, shallot, carrot, liver, red currant, port wine. 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.

Mutton Hashed Venison Fashion