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Leg of Mutton, Boned and Stuffed

A boned leg of mutton stuffed with a mixture of ham, breadcrumbs, suet, shallots, herbs, and spices, then roasted.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Parsley and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,037 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Leg of Mutton, Boned and Stuffed

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderately hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the stuffing

  1. Mix the dry ingredients together, adding salt and pepper to taste.

  2. Moisten the mixture with the egg and enough milk to bind it.

Stuff and roast

  1. Press the mixture into the cavity of the boned leg of mutton and secure the opening.

  2. Roast the leg of mutton for about 2 to 2.5 hours.

Serve

  1. Serve with brown sauce or gravy.

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

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

  2. Shallot + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,737 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Parsley + peppertop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  4. Lemon + peppertop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together27,047 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).

  5. Parsley + nutmegtop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,062 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Leg of mutton
Forms the main body of the dish and carries the stuffing as it cooks.
Egg
Binds the stuffing so it holds together when pressed into the cavity.
Breadcrumbs
Absorb moisture and give the stuffing body and a soft texture.
Suet
Adds fat that keeps the stuffing moist and rich as it roasts.
Ham or bacon
Adds savoury, salty flavour and some fat to the stuffing.

The step that matters

Securing the opening after stuffing. If the opening is not closed tightly, the stuffing can loosen or escape during roasting. Well-secured stuffing holds its shape and cooks through with the meat.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (mutton, ham, shallot, parsley, lemon, pepper, egg):

  1. Thymefits better
  2. Capersfits better
  3. Tarragonfits better
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against mutton, ham, shallot, parsley, lemon, pepper, egg. 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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