Name: Roast Lamb
Ingredients: 1 fore quarter of lamb; water; coarse sea salt; flour; 1 bunch of green mint; 1 cup brown sugar; 1 cup sharp vinegar

Why it works: Lamb and mint work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 772 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Roast Lamb

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Roast the lamb

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Roast the fore quarter of lamb for about 1.5 hours, basting frequently.

Make the gravy

For the gravy, collect the drippings from the roaster, add a little water, coarse sea salt, and flour.
Bring the mixture to a boil.

Make the mint sauce and serve

For the mint sauce, finely chop the mint.
In a bowl, combine the chopped mint, brown sugar, and sharp vinegar. Stir well and serve in a sauceboat.

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.

Lamb + minttop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together772 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Mint + vinegartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,376 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Lamb + flourtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

Fore quarter of lamb: Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and browned as it roasts.
Flour: Thickens the drippings into a smooth gravy as it heats.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness that balances the sharpness of the vinegar.
Sharp vinegar: Adds acidity that cuts the richness of the lamb and sweetened mint.
Green mint: Provides fresh aroma and herbal flavour to the sauce.