Why it works: Egg and bread are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 22,662 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Quarters of Lamb Roasted
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the lamb
Remove the scrag joint from the shoulder and saw off the chine-bone and breast bone.
Joint the meat thoroughly and crack the ribs in the middle.
Remove the thick skin from the lower part of the breast and break the shoulder bone to allow the knuckle to twist.
Secure the knuckle with a skewer from beneath the breast to the knuckle.
Insert two large skewers at the thin end and pass the spit between the skewers and the ribs through the thick part at the shoulder.
Cover the thin end with double thickness of oiled paper.
Roast and brown
Roast the quarter for 2 to 2.5 hours until well done, basting with oil or egg yolk halfway through.
Remove the paper when more than half done, sprinkle with bread crumbs, and return to the fire to brown.
Serve with lemon juice sprinkled on top.
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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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Lamb + breadtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together598 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Bread + lemontop 20% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,445 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Lamb + lemontop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,127 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 44,316 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Lamb fore quarter
- Provides the main meat, which becomes tender and fully cooked through long roasting.
- Bread crumbs
- Form a crisp, browned crust when returned to the heat after the paper is removed.
- Oil or egg yolk
- Basting coats the surface, adding moisture and promoting even browning.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the rich flavour of the roasted meat.
The step that matters
Removing the paper and browning with bread crumbs. Removing the oiled paper too early leaves the surface pale, while leaving it on too long prevents browning. Timing it once more than half done lets the crumbs crisp and brown in the dry heat.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lamb, egg, bread):
- Pumpkinfits about as well
- Datesfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against lamb, egg, bread. 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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