No. 1642

Quarter of Mutton with Gastronome Potatoes

Quartier de Mouton aux Pommes Gastronome

Suppress and trim the end bone of the leg by sawing it off two inches from the shank bone; cut the meat away evenly two inches deep, and scrape the bone free from meat. Bone the spine as far as the beginning of the ribs and saw it through its whole length; roll the flap over and tie it down; put the quarter on the spit, passing the bar alongside the handle, letting it come out at the loin bone, and follow along the minion fillet; maintain the meat in position with skewers, equalize the weight well, so that the spit turns evenly and fasten the handles firmly. Cover the quarter over with a buttered paper, and one hour and a quarter before serving, put the spit in front of the fire; fifteen minutes before dinner, unwrap and let it brown nicely; withdraw it from the spit, glaze, dress and garnish around with gastronome potatoes (No. 2789), and trim the end bone with a fluted paper frill (No. 10); pour over a rather thin half-glaze sauce (No. 413), and serve.

← No. 1641 Mutton Pilau, French Style Mutton No. 1643 Rack of Mutton with Small Roots →

For the Modern Kitchen

This is a spit-roasting recipe for a butcher's cut that has essentially disappeared from retail, written for a cook with an open hearth and a numbered cross-reference system. The butchery and the heat source both need translation.

What a "quarter" isThe hindquarter of mutton: the whole leg with the loin still attached, boned at the spine and rolled. A modern equivalent is a bone-in leg with the sirloin end left on, or a butcher-tied leg and loin ordered in advance.
Mutton versus lambMutton is mature sheep, variously defined as over one or over two years old, darker and stronger-tasting, and rarely sold in the United States outside halal and specialty butchers. Lamb will work but is leaner and cooks faster, so lean on a thermometer rather than the clock.
Spit to ovenRoasting "in front of the fire" is radiant heat with continuous rotation and a dripping pan beneath. A rotisserie attachment on a covered grill is the closer analogue.
The timing is short by designThe timing is short -- An hour and a quarter for a joint this size would leave the meat distinctly rare, though the book does not say so. Pull at 130-135F at the thickest part of the leg for medium-rare, and rest 20 minutes; the loin end will always be more done than the leg.
Buttered paperA sheet of paper brushed with butter, tied over the meat to keep the surface from scorching before the interior cooks; parchment stands in. Remove it for the final 15 minutes to brown, as the recipe directs.
Glaze and half-glaze"Glaze" here means brushing with meat glaze, reduced stock cooked down to a syrup. The "rather thin half-glaze" of No. 413 is demi-glace loosened with stock; a good reduced lamb or veal stock, lightly thickened, stands in.
Gastronome potatoesRanhofer cross-references No. 2789 for these. Small waxy potatoes turned or trimmed to even ovals and browned slowly in butter give a comparable effect.
The frillThe exposed shank bone is scraped clean and dressed with a paper frill purely for presentation at table. Skipping it changes nothing but the look.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of his decades as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry shows how conservative high-end American cooking remained about the hearth: gas ranges were spreading in city kitchens by the 1890s, yet the grandest joints were still turned on a spit before an open fire, which browns by radiant heat and bastes itself as it rotates. Mutton itself was ordinary eating in nineteenth-century America in a way it no longer is, and the shift to young lamb came later. The name gives the dish away as restaurant French: gastronome was one of the standard garnish labels of the period, and Ranhofer's numbered cross-references let him build a plate from parts documented elsewhere in the book rather than repeat himself.