Why it works: Mint and peas are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,137 recipes. Both carry 1-octen-3-ol, which smells mushroom, earthy. The science ↓
Boast Leg of Lamb
Ingredients
Directions
Roast
Place the leg of lamb at a good distance from the fire and baste it well while cooking.
When nearly done, move it closer to the fire to brown the meat.
Sprinkle a little coarse sea salt over the lamb.
Empty the dripping pan and pour in a little boiling water, straining it over the meat.
Serve
Serve with mint sauce and a fresh salad, along with peas, spinach, or cauliflower.
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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Mint + peastop 2% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Lamb + minttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together772 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Lamb + peastop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together650 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).
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Lamb + saucetop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together925 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).
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Sauce + peastop 27% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,109 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Leg of lamb
- Forms the main meat that is roasted, basted and browned.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the surface of the meat.
The step that matters
Moving the lamb closer to the fire to brown. Browning comes from the Maillard reaction, which needs high surface heat and a dry surface. Moving the meat too early or too late, or leaving it wet, can leave it pale or steamed rather than richly browned. Timing it for when the meat is nearly done keeps the interior from overcooking.
“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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