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Saddle of Lamb, a LA Macedoine

A lamb saddle braised and glazed, served with a macedoine of vegetables in allemande sauce.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Peas and carrot are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,994 recipes. Both carry 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells green bell pepper, earthy. The science ↓

Saddle of Lamb, a LA Macedoine

Ingredients

Directions

Braise and glaze

  1. Braise the boned and stuffed saddle of lamb as directed.

  2. Glaze the lamb and dish it up.

Garnish and serve

  1. Garnish with a rich macedoine of vegetables tossed in allemande sauce.

  2. Surround the lamb with a border of artichoke bottoms or small turnips shaped like cups.

  3. Fill the cups half with green peas and the remainder with nicely glazed small carrots.

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. Peas + carrottop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,994 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  2. Sugar + saucetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,147 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Lamb + peastop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together650 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-nonadienal (fatty, green).

  4. Lamb + carrottop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together724 recipes

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

  5. Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together15,338 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Saddle of lamb
Forms the main body of the dish and carries the stuffing and braising liquid.
White broth
Provides moisture during braising, keeping the lamb tender as it cooks.
Butter
Adds richness and helps create a glossy glaze on the lamb and carrots.
Allemande sauce
Adds creamy richness and moisture to the vegetable macedoine.

The step that matters

Glaze the lamb and dish it up. Glazing needs the braised meat and its reduced liquid to be brought together carefully, so the surface turns glossy rather than dry or greasy. Rushing this step can leave the lamb pale or the glaze thin.

Swap the carrot

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, sugar, peas, butter, sauce):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Potatofits better
  4. Carrotthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, sugar, peas, butter, sauce. 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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