Why it works: Lamb and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,165 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Saddle of Lamb Roasted
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Place the saddle of lamb in the oven and roast for 1.5 hours for medium size or nearly 2 hours for large.
Brown the lamb by exposing it to intense heat initially.
Season the lamb with salt and pepper.
Baste the lamb with drippings every 15 minutes.
About 30 minutes before the lamb is done, prepare the cucumber sauce.
Once cooked, transfer the lamb to a hot platter and serve with the cucumber 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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Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,165 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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