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Hodge-podge

A stew of underdone cold mutton, lettuce, green peas, green onions, butter, and water, seasoned with pepper and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Lettuce and peas match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,293 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Hodge-podge

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Mince the mutton and slice the lettuces and onions.

Make the stew

  1. Combine the mutton, lettuces, onions, butter, water, salt, and pepper in a stewpan.

  2. Simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring well.

Add the peas and serve

  1. Boil the peas separately.

  2. Mix the boiled peas with the mutton.

  3. Serve very hot.

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.

  1. Lettuce + peastop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,293 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Lettuce + oniontop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,562 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  3. Lettuce + peppertop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,037 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Onion + peppertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together68,474 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  5. Peas + oniontop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,460 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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 and protein of the stew, becoming tender during gentle simmering.
Lettuces
Wilt during simmering, adding moisture and a soft, tender texture to the stew.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, carrying flavour and giving the stew a smoother mouthfeel.
Green peas
Add sweetness and a bright colour, with a tender texture once boiled.

Swap the lettuce

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, peas, onion, butter, pepper):

  1. Potatofits better
  2. Leekfits better
  3. Asparagusfits better
  4. Lettucethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, peas, onion, butter, pepper. 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.

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