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Braised Leg of Mutton

A slow-cooked mutton leg with carrots, leeks, onions, spices, and stock, finished with lemon juice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Braised Leg of Mutton

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Cut off the shank and trim the leg of mutton.

  2. In a large saucepan, arrange a layer of rashers of ham or bacon at the bottom.

Braise

  1. Place the leg of mutton on top and pack it with trimmings, shank, and any odd pieces of bacon.

  2. Add the chopped carrots, leeks, onions, whole white pepper, mace, allspice, and bouquet garni.

  3. Pour in 1½ pints of stock and the juice of 1 lemon.

  4. Cover and simmer for 5 hours, shaking occasionally.

  5. If possible, place the saucepan in a 300°F (150°C) oven.

Serve

  1. When ready, dish the leg of mutton and strain the cooking liquid over it before serving.

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. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Carrot + leektop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,310 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Leek + oniontop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,326 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

  4. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Carrot + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,021 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Leg of mutton
Provides the main meat, which becomes tender through long, slow braising.
Stock
Forms the braising liquid that keeps the meat moist and carries flavour.
Leeks
Add savoury aroma and sweetness to the braising liquid as they soften.
Onions
Release sugars and savoury flavour into the liquid during long simmering.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the rich flavour of the braising liquid.
Rashers of ham or bacon
Lay down a salty, smoky fat base that flavours the meat and liquid.

The step that matters

Keep the simmer gentle and the lid on. Slow, low heat breaks down tough connective tissue in the mutton without drying the meat. A rolling boil toughens the surface and evaporates the stock, so the joint can dry out over the five hours.

Swap the white pepper

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, carrot, leek, onion, clove, mace, allspice):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Marjoramfits better
  4. White pepperthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, carrot, leek, onion, clove, mace, allspice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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