Why it works: Butter and mushroom are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 12,525 recipes. Both carry trans-2-decenal, which smells waxy, orange. The science ↓
Mutton Cutlets
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Trim off excess fat from the mutton cutlets.
Season the cutlets with coarse sea salt and black pepper.
Broil and serve
Heat a grill and rub it with a bit of mutton suet.
Broil the cutlets over a brisk fire, turning them often.
Cook for about 7 to 8 minutes for lightly broiled, or 10 minutes for well done.
Serve with a cold Maitre d’hôtel sauce, brown gravy, or melted butter seasoned with mushroom ketchup, cayenne, and chili vinegar or lemon juice.
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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Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,525 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
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Pepper + mushroomtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together13,580 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Mutton + mushroomtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together685 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Pepper + vinegartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,814 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together5,442 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 cutlets
- Form the main meat, which browns on the grill and stays juicy when cooked briefly over high heat.
- Mutton suet
- Greases the grill so the cutlets do not stick and gain a little richness from the fat.
The step that matters
Turning the cutlets often over a brisk fire. Frequent turning over strong heat browns the surface evenly and keeps the outside from burning before the centre cooks through. Too little turning can leave the cutlets charred on one side and underdone inside.
“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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