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Barbecued Saddle of Lamb with Lemon & Rosemary

Bundle herbs and flavourings into the middle of the joint, letting the flavour permeate all the way through the meat

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Why it works: Rosemary and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 845 recipes mention both. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

The recipe

Serves 8
Prep20 min
Cook45 min

Ingredients

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Light a barbecue and set it up for two zones: one medium-high direct-heat side around 400°F (200°C), and one indirect side. Soak a few rosemary sprigs in a bowl of water.

  2. Finely grate the zest of the lemons, then juice them. Whisk the lemon zest and juice with the chopped garlic and olive oil in a bowl.

  3. Bruise the lemongrass halves with the side of a knife, then add them and most of the rosemary to the marinade, reserving a few sprigs.

  4. Rub the lamb all over with the marinade, place it in a dish, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

  5. Remove the lamb from the fridge 20 minutes before grilling. Drain the reserved rosemary and toss it onto the hot coals or grill for smoke.

  6. Sear the lamb over the direct-heat side for 3 to 4 minutes per side until browned, then move it to the indirect side and close the lid.

  7. Cook for about 25 to 30 minutes until the thickest part reaches at least 145°F (63°C) on a meat thermometer.

  8. Rest the lamb for at least 3 minutes, then slice it thinly and serve with the grilled lemongrass and rosemary.

By bbcgoodfood. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Rosemary + lemontop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together845 recipes

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

  2. Garlic + olivetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together23,449 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Rosemary + olivetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together2,489 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Rosemary + garlictop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together2,179 recipes

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

  5. Lamb + rosemarytop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together396 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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

Flavor stand-ins for the garlic

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, rosemary, lemon, olive):

  1. Thymebetter flavor fit
  2. Oreganobetter flavor fit
  3. Parsleybetter flavor fit
  4. Garlicthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, rosemary, lemon, olive. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).