Why it works: Mutton and red wine work together. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 117 recipes. Both carry ethyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓
Roast Leg of 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.
Roast
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Roast the leg of mutton for 2 hours.
Halfway through, remove excess fat from the roaster.
Baste the meat with the drippings.
Gravy and timing
For gravy, use the same method as for roast beef or add a few tablespoons of current jelly and 1 cup of red wine.
Add 10 minutes for every extra pound of mutton.
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.
-
Mutton + red winetop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together117 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mutton
- The main meat; long roasting renders its fat and softens its connective tissue for tender slices.
- Red wine
- Adds acidity and depth to the pan juices used for the gravy.
- Current jelly
- Adds sweetness and body to the gravy, balancing the savory drippings.
The step that matters
Add 10 minutes for every extra pound of mutton. A heavier leg takes longer for heat to travel from the surface to the centre. Without extra time, the outside can overcook while the middle stays underdone.
“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.
More roast leg of mutton recipes
You might also like
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Haricot Mutton59 recipes
Mutton Soup56 recipes
Curried Mutton9 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.