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

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

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

Make the mint sauce and serve

Finely chop the green mint.
Mix the chopped mint with 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of 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).
Vinegar + minttop 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: The main meat, which provides the dish's central flavor and substance.
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 through the richness and sweetness of the sauce.
Green mint: Adds fresh aroma and herbal flavor to the sauce.