Why it works: Mutton and turnip are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,558 recipes. Both carry octanal, which smells fat, soap. The science ↓
Leg of Mutton with Caper Sauce
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 160°F (70°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Place the leg of mutton in a pot and cover it with boiling water.
Boil for 5 minutes, skimming off any scum that rises.
Add enough cold water to reduce the heat to 160°F (70°C).
Season with salt and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes per pound.
If using turnips, pare and boil them with the mutton or keep them warm in mutton stock after cooking.
Prepare caper sauce just before serving.
Serve the mutton on a hot dish with turnips around it and the sauce in a gravy boat.
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 + turniptop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,558 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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