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 ↓
Roast of Lamb or Mutton
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Prepare the leg of lamb or mutton by removing loose fat and pink outer skin.
Wipe the meat with a damp cloth, then rub it with salt and pepper.
Dredge the meat with flour and place it on a rack in a roaster.
Roast
Pour 1 cup of boiling water into the pan and set it in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 350°F (175°C) and roast slowly for 1 to 1.5 hours.
Baste the meat after 15 minutes if using an iron roaster.
If using an earthen roaster, baste only once or twice.
Serve
Serve with green peas or spinach and a tart jelly, such as currant.
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).
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Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Lamb + flourtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,402 recipes
Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Leg of lamb or mutton
- Is the main meat, which becomes tender and juicy during slow roasting.
- Flour
- Dusted on the surface, it helps form a light crust and promotes browning.
- Boiling water
- Poured into the pan, it creates steam that keeps the meat moist in the oven.
The step that matters
Basting in the roaster. Basting with the pan juices keeps the surface moist and helps it brown evenly. Basting too often in an earthen roaster can lower the oven temperature and slow cooking, so the record limits it to once or twice.
“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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