Saddle of Mutton
There is really but one way of doing a saddle-to roast it; but the French have a way of sometimes boning it, rolling it up, and brazing it. They might as well boil it. They understand their gigot; but they are not to be trusted with a saddle, which is in England very properly regarded as the prime piece of the mutton.
Frenchmen would not be so ready to interfere with the bones of the saddle if they knew of a little fact which is quite familiar in England-that there is a distinct difference of flavour between a roasted half-saddle and a roasted loin. What is known as a half-saddle comes from the butcher with a rigid backbone. The loin of mutton is precisely the same piece of meat; but when so called, the vertebræ of the back are disjointed, so that it can be carved in chops. This may be a more economical way of cutting the meat, but it injures the taste.