Name: Saddle of Lamb
Ingredients: 1 saddle of lamb; Mint sauce (3 tablespoons finely chopped young mint, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 6 tablespoons vinegar)

Why it works: Lamb and mint work together. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 772 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Saddle of Lamb

Ingredients

1 saddle of lamb
Mint sauce (3 tablespoons finely chopped young mint, 2 tablespoons powdered sugar, 6 tablespoons vinegar)

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 your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Roast the saddle of lamb at a brisk fire, basting constantly with its own drippings.
Cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2 hours.

Serve

Serve with mint sauce and, if desired, brown cucumber sauce and a salad.

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.

Lamb + minttop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together772 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sauce + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,147 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,806 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Mint + vinegartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,376 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Lamb + saucetop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together925 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).

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

What each ingredient does

Saddle of lamb: Is the main cut, whose own drippings baste it as it roasts.
Mint sauce: Its vinegar and sugar add acidity and sweetness that balance the rich lamb.