Why it works: Pepper and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,451 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓
A Fore-quarter of House-lamb
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.
Roast
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Roast the fore-quarter of house-lamb for 1.5 hours.
Once done, remove from the oven and place on a serving dish.
Carve and serve
Cut off the shoulder and season the ribs with salt and pepper.
Serve with good gravy and currant-jelly sauce.
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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Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together17,451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Lamb + peppertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,165 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Currant + clovetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,038 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Lamb + saucetop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together925 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).
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Lamb + clovetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together567 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- House-lamb fore-quarter
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and browned during slow roasting.
- Currant-jelly sauce
- Adds sweetness and acidity that contrast with the rich, savoury lamb.
- Good gravy
- Adds moisture and savoury depth to the carved meat.
Swap the currant
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, pepper, sauce, clove):
- Limefits better
- Lemonfits better
- Cherryfits better
- Currantthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, pepper, sauce, clove. 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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