Name: Lamb Chops a LA Maintenon
Ingredients: 6 French lamb chops, 1½ inches thick; 2½ tablespoons butter; 1 tablespoon chopped onion; ½ cup chopped mushrooms; 2 tablespoons flour; 3 tablespoons brown stock; 1 teaspoon finely chopped parsley; Salt and pepper to taste

Why it works: Parsley and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 34,122 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. The science ↓

Lamb Chops a LA Maintenon

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the chops

Wipe the lamb chops and split the meat in half, cutting to the bone.

Make the filling

Cook the butter and chopped onion in a skillet for 5 minutes.
Remove the onion.
Add the chopped mushrooms to the skillet and cook for another 5 minutes.
Stir in the flour, brown stock, parsley, and season with salt and pepper.

Assemble and cook

Spread the mixture between the split chops and press the edges together.
Broil the chops for 8 minutes.
Serve with melted butter or Spanish sauce.

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.

Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together34,122 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Butter + mushroomtop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,525 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).
Onion + parsleytop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together25,843 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Onion + mushroomtop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,626 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together68,474 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

Lamb chops: The main protein, which the filling is stuffed into and which cooks under the broiler.
Butter: Adds fat and richness to the filling and carries the flavour of the onion and mushrooms.
Mushrooms: Add moisture and earthy flavour to the filling as they release their liquid while cooking.
Flour: Thickens the filling so it holds together between the chops rather than running out.
Brown stock: Adds savoury depth and moisture to the filling and helps bind it with the flour.

The step that matters

Pressing the split chops closed around the filling. If the edges are not pressed firmly together, the filling can leak out and dry or burn under the broiler. A tight seal keeps the stuffing moist and in place while the meat cooks.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, butter, mushroom, flour, parsley, pepper):

Shallotfits better
Spinachfits better
Carrotfits better
Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, butter, mushroom, flour, parsley, 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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Lamb Chops a LA Maintenon