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Saddle of Mutton with Currant Jelly
Pare a small saddle of mutton, remove the red skin from surface, make few crisscross incisions on top of fat and remove kidneys and all inside fat. Firmly tie it to keep in perfect shape, lay in a roasting pan, lightly baste the surface with melted butter, pour two tablespoons of water into the pan, season with a level tablespoon salt, half tea-spoon pepper, and set in the oven to roast for an hour and ten minutes, turning and basting it with its gravy occasionally. Remove, let stand for ten minutes, untie, dress on a dish, skim fat off surface of gravy, then pour it over the saddle and serve with currant jelly separately.
A plain roast that depends almost entirely on the cut and on knowing when to stop. The original assumes a butcher who will hand you a saddle and a cook who knows her own oven, so the two things it leaves out are the two things worth pinning down.
- What a saddle isThe unseparated pair of loins, cut across the back with the bone in, from the last rib to the hip. Any butcher can cut one to order, but it is rarely a case display item now; expect to ask a few days ahead. A small one runs roughly 5 to 7 lb.
- No oven temperature is givenThe book assumes you know. A common modern approach is to start hot, around 425F for the first 15 to 20 minutes to set and colour the fat, then drop to 350F for the remainder.
- An hour and ten is a guide, not a ruleThat timing suits a small saddle taken to the pink side of medium. Use a thermometer in the thickest part of the loin, clear of bone: about 130-135F for medium-rare, 140-145F for medium. Mutton at 160F and above is dry and stringy, whatever the clock says.
- Mutton versus lambMutton means sheep over about two years, with darker meat and a stronger, slightly gamey flavour. Most butchers sell only lamb; hogget, at one to two years, is the closest common substitute and cooks in a little less time than true mutton.
- The red skinThis is most likely the fell, the papery membrane over the fat. Pull and pare it off before roasting, or it tightens and pulls the joint out of shape. The crisscross scoring in the fat beneath helps it render and crisp.
- Tying and restingTie the flaps under the loins so the shape holds and the thin ends do not overcook. The ten-minute rest before carving is the minimum; fifteen to twenty is better for a joint this size, tented loosely with foil.
- The gravyTwo tablespoons of water in the pan is deglazing liquid, not a braise. Skim as directed, then loosen the browned bits with a splash of stock or wine over heat if the pan looks dry. It is meant to be thin pan juice, not a thickened sauce.
- Carving and yieldTraditionally carved in long strips parallel to the backbone, or in slices cut across the loin. A small saddle serves six to eight. Red currant jelly goes on the table in its own dish, never spooned over the meat.
The saddle was the grand roast of the English dinner table, the joint sent up whole when the household wanted to show it could afford one, and mutton rather than lamb was often preferred in serious kitchens well into the twentieth century — older sheep gave more flavour and, in an era before year-round lamb, more meat for the money. The pairing with red currant jelly is a long-standing British convention, generally explained as a sweet-tart foil to fat, and the same jelly traditionally accompanies venison and hare. Note too what the recipe does not say. No oven temperature, no weight, no doneness — the writer assumes a cook who has roasted a hundred joints and needs only the seasoning and the order of operations.