No. 1634

Leg of Mutton, Parisian Style, in the Oven

Gigot de Mouton a la Parisienne au Four

Saw off the handle of the leg below the knuckle bone; insert a piece of garlic near the handle, then lay the meat in a baking pan: pour some good drippings and water over and roast it in the oven, adding a little more water every time the fat clarifies in order to prevent it burning; when cooked, dress the leg, surrounding it with large olive-shaped potatoes cooked with butter in a slow oven and baste the leg with the gravy, serving the remainder in a sauce-boat. Trim the handle (Fig. 164) with a paper frill (No. 10) or one of silver for this purpose.

← No. 1633 Leg of Mutton on the Spit Mutton No. 1635 Leg of Mutton with Puree of Beans →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes a cook who already knows how to roast, so the instruction is thin on numbers. The essentials are the water in the pan, which is a deliberate technique rather than an afterthought, and the shape of the potatoes.

Mutton vs. lambTrue mutton — sheep over two years — is rare in American markets and worth seeking from a halal butcher or a farm supplier; it is stronger, darker and needs longer. A bone-in leg of lamb of 5–7 lb stands in directly, cooking faster than mutton of the same weight.
Sawing the handleTrimming the shank below the knuckle gives a clean bone to grip and to dress with the frill. A butcher will do it; a home saw on a bone leaves splinters that should be wiped away with a damp cloth.
Oven heatRanhofer gives none. A modern approach is to start at 425F for 20 minutes to colour the fat, then drop to 325F for the remainder. "Slow oven" in period usage is usually reckoned at about 300F or a little below.
Water in the panThis is the hinge of the recipe. The water is not for the meat but to keep the drippings from scorching into the pan and turning the gravy bitter; add a few tablespoons whenever the pan looks dry and the fat begins to smoke. Never let it boil dry.
Drippings"Good drippings" means saved beef or pork fat from earlier roasting. Rendered beef fat, lard or clarified butter all serve; olive oil changes the flavour but works.
Olive-shaped potatoesTurned potatoes: cut with a small knife into even barrel or olive shapes so they cook evenly and hold their shape. Ranhofer specifies large ones here. Roast them separately in butter so they do not sit in the meat's watery pan liquid.
DonenessPeriod roasting took mutton well through. Modern practice pulls lamb at 130–135°F at the thickest point away from the bone for medium-rare, 145°F for medium, then rests it 15–20 minutes before carving. Mutton benefits from the higher end.
GravySkim the fat from the pan, loosen the browned residue with a little stock or water, and strain. There is no thickening here — it is meant to be a thin roasting jus.
YieldA 6 lb bone-in leg serves about six to eight. The paper frill is decoration only, for carving at the table.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of some thirty years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry sits in a run of leg-of-mutton preparations — on the spit, with bean pur": "e, hat shsays how much variation a single cut carried on a nineteenth-century carte.