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Kebobbed Mutton
This favorite Oriental dish can be prepared with our mutton in a manner far superior to any Kebob at Turkish or Egyptian tables. Take a loin of mutton, joint it well at every bone, cut off all superfluous fat, particularly of the kidney, and remove the skin; prepare a well-proportioned and large seasoning of the following ingredients: Some bread crumbs, sweet herbs, nutmeg, pepper, and salt; brush the mutton chops over with yolk of egg, and sprinkle the above mixture thickly over them; then tie the chops together in their original order, run a slender spit through them, and roast in a hot oven, basting them well with butter and the drippings from the meat, and throwing more of the seasoning on them from time to time. Serve with the gravy from the meat, and have ready besides a boat of gravy, to which has been added 2 tablespoonfuls of catsup and a thickening of flour; let this gravy boil; skim and mix it with the gravy in the dish. Remember that all dishes of mutton should be served as hot as possible. Time, a quarter of an hour to a pound. Sufficient for four or five persons.
A Victorian roast dressed up as a kebab: a loin of mutton cut through at each bone, crumbed between the chops, then tied back into a joint and spit-roasted. The trick is that it is carved-and-reassembled, so the seasoning ends up inside the roast rather than only on its surface.
- Ask the butcher to chine it"Joint it well at every bone" means cutting through the backbone between each rib or chop so the loin will flex apart but stay in one piece. A butcher will chine the loin for you in seconds; doing it at home needs a saw.
- A hot ovenRead this as roughly 400-450F. At that heat the crumb coating sets and browns rather than steaming off, which is the whole point of egging and crumbing between the chops.
- The timing is for well-done meatA quarter of an hour to a pound puts a 4 lb tied loin at an hour, which by modern standards is thoroughly cooked through. Lamb loin is at its best pulled at 130-135F internal for medium-rare to medium; check with a thermometer at the thickest point rather than by the clock.
- Sweet herbsIn Victorian cookery this usually meant some combination of parsley, thyme, marjoram and a little sage or savoury, chopped fine, though the mix varied from book to book. Dried works here since it is bound into a crumb stuffing; about a tablespoon of mixed dried herbs to a cup of crumbs.
- CatsupIn a book of this vintage catsup usually means mushroom or walnut ketchup, both thin, dark and savoury, not the sweet tomato sauce. Mushroom ketchup is still sold; a spoonful of soy plus a little Worcestershire gets close if you cannot find it.
- Spit or rackFew kitchens have a spit. Tie the reassembled loin firmly at intervals with butcher's twine and roast on a rack over a tray so the drippings collect for basting, turning it once partway through.
- Trim the kidney fat properlyThe instruction to remove the fat "particularly of the kidney" matters more with mutton than with young lamb, since the hard suet around the kidney carries most of the strong flavour people object to. Leave a thin outer fat cap for basting.
- Mutton versus lambMutton is sheep over two years old, darker and stronger, and is rarely stocked outside specialist butchers. A loin of lamb behaves the same way but cooks faster and needs less aggressive seasoning.
- ServingFour to five as written, from a loin of roughly 3-4 lb. Warm the plates and the gravy boat: the closing line about serving mutton as hot as possible is practical advice, since sheep fat congeals on a cool plate.