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Fore-quarter of Lamb, Roasted

A fore-quarter of lamb roasted with butter, lemon, pepper, and coarse sea salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Lemon and pepper match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,047 recipes. Both carry trans-2-nonenal, which smells cardboard, fatty. The science ↓

Fore-quarter of Lamb, Roasted

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare and roast

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Position the lamb away from the fire initially.

  3. Once heated, baste the lamb well.

  4. Roast for about 2 hours, ensuring the fire is quick and clear but not fierce.

Carve and finish

  1. When done, separate the shoulder from the ribs.

  2. Before fully removing the shoulder, place a large lump of butter underneath.

  3. Squeeze the lemon over the lamb and season with pepper and coarse sea salt.

  4. Allow it to sit until the butter is completely melted.

  5. Remove the shoulder and transfer it to another dish.

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.

  1. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  2. Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,165 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Lamb + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,232 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Butter + peppertop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together85,593 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lamb
Supplies the meat and fat that form the main body of the dish.
Butter
Adds richness and moisture as it melts over the lamb.
Lemon
Adds acidity that brightens the rich flavour of the lamb.

The step that matters

Keep the fire quick and clear but not fierce. A large joint is thick, so intense heat can scorch the outside before the centre cooks through. Steady, moderate heat cooks the meat evenly and browns it without burning.

“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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