It's A real solid option, is lamb: dependable, delicious, tempting. For the cook, it is a delight to work with a meat so adaptable, so diverse. For the eater, it's full of sweet, caramelised flavours in its noble, supple texture.
Every great cuisine honours the lamb, from east to west, north to south, and it has been responsible for magnificent culinary creations throughout the globe. There is our own peerless Irish stew, of course, which is the precursor of all the great meat daubes; braised lamb shanks; crown roast of lamb; the elemental simplicity and perfection that is the grilled lamb chop; great lamb tagines with artichokes and broad beans, or with preserved lemons; that array of fantastic leftover-lamb dishes such as shepherd's pie (much better made with left-over roast lamb than with ground lamb) and the many glorious Middle Eastern mezzes which use lamb cuttings; and of course there are volumes needed to encompass the huge number of dishes from all over the globe which use minced lamb.
Another factor which inclines us to lamb is the fact that it is a superb meat to partner with wine, as my colleague Mary Dowey shows today. It also loves a variety of sauces, everything from a sweet soubise (baked onions cooked with rice and then pureed and with butter beaten in at the end for smoothness) to a rich gravy tricked out with redcurrant jelly and a splash of the wine you are going to drink with the dish.
This ubiquity has not meant we take lamb for granted. In fact, everywhere you look, lamb is the ceremonial food of choice. Muslims will roast the animal whole to celebrate wedding-feasts, births and religious holidays. For Jewish people, it is associated with Passover. For Christians, it takes on special significance at Easter, when we eat it as the symbol of Christ.
Of course, the price of lamb has risen over the years, but it remains an affordable meat, with the leg being the most pricey. But I am always surprised, when buying a rack of lamb in order to bone and roll it, at just how relatively inexpensive it is, for something I always think of as a special treat.
Indeed, boning and rolling the rack is something every cook should know how to do, for it gives you the most tender cut of lamb and the various stuffings which can be used with the rolled loin allow us to make many variations.
If you have a good butcher, he will do the work for you - make sure to ask him for the bones for they are useful when roasting the rack to make the gravy as the meat cooks. If you want to do it yourself, then the object is simply to remove all the bones and any excess fat from your loin of lamb, leaving you with just the tender, sweet eye of the loin and a flap of skin to wrap around the eye. Begin by cutting in on the loin under the shoulder blade (ask the butcher to split this for you first of all), carefully trimming right at the bones and moving the knife down to release the rib bones.
The classical style of "Frenching" the loin - leaving the rib bones on but trimming and chining them - is a handsome technique, but I find it makes the lamb more awkward to cook, and to eat. With the boned and rolled loin you get a dish which is simple to cook, carve and eat.
To give an alternative texture to lamb, think about making a herb crust to give you some crispy bite as you eat the cooked meat. Some cooks recommend dipping the lamb in beaten egg before rolling it in the herb mixture, but I prefer to lather a decent coating of mustard over the lamb and then pack the herb crust into the mustard. That way, the herb crust stays solidly in place, and the mustard coating gives you another nice, sharp, contrasting flavour.
Herb Crust for Roast Loin of Lamb
1 oz parsley
1/2 oz rosemary
2 tablespoons thyme leaves, stalks removed
8 ozs breadcrumbs
1 large clove garlic
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons mustard
Finely chop the herb leaves with the garlic. Place bread in a food processor and process until you have fine breadcrumbs. Then add in the herb leaves and the garlic and salt and pepper and process very briefly, adding in olive oil to slightly bind the mixture. Rub two tablespoons of good quality mustard over the loin and pack the herb crust into the mustard before roasting.
Finally, here is a neat recipe from that inexhaustible bible of good things, The Dean & DeLucca Cookbook for a simple roast leg of lamb, with the clever addition of some caramelised aubergine to give a Mediterranean accent to your gravy. If you prepare the lamb on Saturday, do give it enough time out of the fridge on Sunday morning to come to room temperature. And do remember that allowing the lamb to rest after it comes out of the oven is absolutely vital for both good flavour and good carving.
Roast Leg of Lamb with Caramelised Aubergine
Serves eight
4.5kg (10lb) leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat
6 large garlic cloves, cut into slivers
30ml (2 tablespoons) olive oil
70g (2 1/2 oz) chopped fresh rosemary
50g (2oz) chopped fresh thyme
10g (2 teaspoons) salt
5g (1 teaspoon) ground black pepper
2 x 450g (1lb) aubergines, cut into one-inch cubes
450ml (16 fl oz) lamb or beef stock
Make 1 cm (1/2-inch) slits all over the leg of lamb with the tip of a paring knife and insert slivers of garlic into each one.
Rub olive oil over the lamb, followed by the chopped rosemary and thyme. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper and place in a roasting tin large enough to hold both the lamb and the aubergine. Refrigerate, covered, for four hours.
Bring lamb to room temperature before proceeding. (Allow two hours for the lamb to come to room temperature). Preheat oven to 190C (375F).
Place lamb, uncovered, in the middle of the oven and roast for one hour. Spread aubergine cubes around the lamb and roast the lamb for 30 minutes more, basting aubergine and lamb with any accumulated pan-juices of fat and stirring the aubergine so that it doesn't stick to the bottom. Continue roasting for another 45 minutes, or until the internal temperature is about 57C (135F) (for medium-rare). Remove roast to carving board and allow it to rest 15 minutes before carving.
While the roast is resting, degrease the pan juices. Then add stock to roasting tin and place pan over high heat. Boil until stock is reduced to about 1 1/2 cups. Strain and taste before seasoning.
Carve the lamb and arrange the meat on a platter, spooning pan gravy over the meat.