Name: Mutton and Tomatoes
Ingredients: 1 lb of mutton; 3 tomatoes; 2 to 3 tablespoons of brown breadcrumbs; 1 pint of gravy; butter; salt; pepper

Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Mutton and Tomatoes

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Cut the mutton into thin slices and slice the tomatoes.
Grease a baking dish and place a layer of tomatoes at the bottom.

Layer

Cover the tomatoes lightly with breadcrumbs and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place slices of mutton on top and repeat the layers until all ingredients are used, ensuring the last layer is tomatoes.
Pour the gravy over the layers and sprinkle the surface thickly with brown breadcrumbs.
Dot with a few bits of butter and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 4 hours.

Serve

Serve warm.

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.

Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,923 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mutton + peppertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,442 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Mutton + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,781 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Mutton + tomatotop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together452 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-nonanal (fatty, waxy).
Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 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: Provides the meat and savoury body of the casserole as it cooks slowly.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity that flavour the layers and soften during baking.
Brown breadcrumbs: Absorb juices between the layers and form a crisp, browned topping.
Gravy: Adds moisture and savoury flavour so the meat stays tender during the long bake.
Butter: Adds fat that helps the top brown and enriches the surface.

The step that matters

Dot with a few bits of butter and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 4 hours.. A long, moderate bake lets tough mutton become tender while the gravy keeps it moist. Too high a heat would dry the meat and scorch the breadcrumb topping before the inside is done.