Why it works: Lamb and parsley are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,322 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
To Roast 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).
Place the lamb joint in the oven and roast until white gravy begins to drop from it.
Do not rush the cooking; start at a lower temperature and finish with a brisker fire.
Serve
Serve with a little gravy made with water, adjusted for the size of the joint.
If desired, sprinkle finely minced parsley over the lamb five minutes before serving.
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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Lamb + parsleytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,322 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lamb joint
- Forms the main body of the dish; its fat and muscle give the meat its flavour and juiciness.
The step that matters
Start at a lower temperature, then finish hot. Cooking gently first lets heat reach the centre without drying the outside, and the brisker finish browns the surface. Rushing the cooking tends to leave the meat tough and unevenly done.
“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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