To Roast Lamb

A carving-table note as much as a roasting one: the Victorian forequarter of lamb was served whole and opened at the table, and the seasoning went on at that moment rather than before the fire.

• The missing timesThe paragraph defers to the mutton entry for timing, which is not reproduced on this page. Nineteenth-century roasting guidance commonly ran somewhere around 15 to 20 minutes per pound at a steady moderate heat, which for lamb produces meat well past pink.
• Temperatures in numbersAn open roast of lamb does well at 425F for the first 20 minutes to set the surface, then 325 to 350F to finish. Judge by a thermometer in the thickest part away from bone: 130F for rare, 140F for medium, 160F and above for the fully cooked meat this book assumes.
• What a forequarter isThe whole front of the animal in one piece ibs, breast, shoulder and neck. It is not a supermarket cut; a butcher will need notice. A bone-in shoulder of 4 to 5 lb behaves the same way and serves six.
• Lifting the shoulderThe shoulder blade sits loose on the ribs, joined by a thin sheet of connective tissue. Slide a knife under the blade, raise it like a lid, then squeeze lemon and dust cayenne into the pocket while the meat is still hot enough to take the seasoning. This is the hinge of the instruction.
• CayenneUse a light dusting, no more than a quarter teaspoon over a forequarter, or it will bury the lemon.
• Mint sauceAssumed knowledge for the book's readers, and served cold: about 3 tablespoons finely chopped mint, 1 tablespoon sugar and 4 tablespoons vinegar, left half an hour to soften. It is sharp and thin, not the sweet jelly sold under the same name.
• RestingGive the joint 15 to 20 minutes off the heat under loose foil before carving. Do the lemon and cayenne at the end of that rest so the aromatics are not lost to standing time.