Skip to main content
Main

Rolled Mutton

A rolled mutton shoulder served with a gravy made from the bones and seasoned with vinegar, mushroom catsup, soy sauce, lemon pickle, and port wine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 17 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Thyme and marjoram match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,225 recipes. Both carry terpineol, which smells pine, woody. The science ↓

Rolled Mutton

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.

Prepare the meat

  1. Bone the shoulder of mutton carefully, keeping the skin intact.

  2. Mince the meat and season it with black pepper, Jamaica pepper, nutmeg, clove, parsley, lemon thyme, sweet marjoram, and chopped onion.

  3. Mix in a well-beaten egg yolk.

  4. Roll the mixture tightly in the skin and tie it securely.

Bake and make gravy

  1. Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 2 to 3 hours, depending on the size.

  2. Make gravy from the bones and parings, seasoning with onion, pepper, and salt.

  3. Strain and thicken the gravy with flour and butter, then add vinegar, mushroom catsup, soy sauce, lemon pickle, and port wine.

  4. Garnish with forcemeat balls made from grated bread and part of the mince.

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. Thyme + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: terpineol (pine, woody).

  2. Parsley + thymetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Nutmeg + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together8,686 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Parsley + marjoramtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,979 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Parsley + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,037 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

Mutton shoulder
Provides the main meat and fat that become the roast's rich, tender body.
Egg yolk
Binds the minced meat so it holds together when rolled and baked.
Flour
Thickens the strained gravy to a smooth, lightly coating consistency.
Butter
Enriches the gravy with fat and adds a rounded, savoury flavour.
Port wine
Adds sweetness and depth of flavour to the finished gravy.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that brightens the rich gravy and balances the meat's fattiness.

The step that matters

Rolling and tying the mince in the skin. If the roll is loose or poorly tied, the mince can separate and leak fat during baking, leaving the roast dry and unevenly shaped. A tight, secure roll keeps the filling together and cooking even.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, pepper, nutmeg, parsley, lemon, thyme, marjoram):

  1. Winter savoryfits better
  2. Sagefits better
  3. Rosemaryfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, pepper, nutmeg, parsley, lemon, thyme, marjoram. 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.

You might also like

Mutton BrothMutton Broth292 recipesLemon SauceLemon Sauce236 recipesMushroom SoupMushroom Soup60 recipesHaricot MuttonHaricot Mutton59 recipes