To Roast A Lamb
From the treasured pages of Cookbook
Unknown Author
To Roast A Lamb
"Cutt all the ruffy off & blanch it in warm water take the skin of it to the shank take a pound of butterr with sweet hearbs of all sorts & put a botle of white wine to them & make them boyling hot & power it over the Lamb, & let it ly all night, next day stick it with cloves put it on the spit & let it be 3 hours at the fire basting it with the whole wine & butterr all the time when you take it off the spit throw crumbs of bread over it & brown it in the toppe, with a claret wine sauce."
Note on the Original Text
The recipe is written in the brisk, instruction-heavy tone of the early 18th century, piecing together a sequence of tasks without precise timings or quantities except for the wine and butter. Spelling variations like 'boyling' for boiling and 'power' for pour are typical of the period's fluid orthography. The absence of strictly measured ingredients (herbs 'of all sorts') shows the expectation that cooks would adjust to taste and custom—a hallmark of historical recipes aimed at experienced domestic cooks rather than novices.
Title
Cookbook (1706)
You can also click the book image above to peruse the original tome
Writer
Unknown
Era
1706
Publisher
Unknown
Background
Step back to the early 18th century with this charming culinary collection, brimming with period recipes that tantalize the tastebuds and offer a delicious glimpse into historic kitchens.
Kindly made available by
Folger Shakespeare Library
This recipe hails from the early 18th century, a time when roasting meats was both a centerpiece of household feasts and a testament to culinary flair. Originating around 1706, it reflects the fashionable English taste for lavishly seasoned roasts, enriched with wine and copious butter. Using herbs and wine as both marinade and basting sauce, the recipe speaks to the luxurious (and resource-intensive) approaches to meat cookery before industrialization made such ingredients widely accessible. The use of claret (a Bordeaux red wine) for sauce highlights the continued influence of French gastronomy on the English elite, while studding with cloves nods to the era's love of aromatic spices that were becoming more available through global trade.
Roasting a large leg of lamb in 1706 would have required a sturdy spit and roasting hearth, possibly managed by a spitboy or with a clockwork spit-rotator in grander homes. Cast iron or earthenware pans and clay basting bowls would have held the marinade and drippings. Bread would be toasted and crumbed on hand, and a sharp knife or larding needle would be used to stud the meat with cloves. A sauce pan (often copper or pewter) was used to reduce wine for sauce. Today, a modern oven, roasting pan with rack, saucepan, and basting brush can admirably step in for the old hearth tools.
Prep Time
30 mins
Cook Time
3 hrs
Servings
10
Ingredients
- 1 whole leg of lamb (about 5 1/2–6 1/2 lbs)
- 1 lb unsalted butter
- 1 large bunch mixed fresh herbs (e.g. rosemary, thyme, parsley, marjoram)
- 3 1/4 cups dry white wine
- Whole cloves (about 15–20 for studding)
- 2 1/2 oz fresh white breadcrumbs
- 1 cup claret wine (or dry red Bordeaux-style wine)
- Salt and pepper, to taste (optional, for modern tastes)
Instructions
- To recreate this sumptuous 18th-century roast lamb, begin by trimming away any tougher layers (the 'ruffy') and blanching the lamb leg in warm water for a few minutes.
- Remove the skin up to the shank, if not already skinned.
- In a saucepan, melt about 1 pound of unsalted butter, then add a generous handful of mixed fresh herbs—think rosemary, thyme, parsley, and perhaps marjoram.
- Pour in 3 1/4 cups of dry white wine and bring the mixture to a boil.
- While still hot, pour this fragrant concoction over the lamb in a deep dish, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
- Next day, stud the lamb with whole cloves, then skewer it on a spit (or place on a modern roasting rack).
- Roast at about 325°F for roughly 3 hours, frequently basting with the herbed wine-butter marinade.
- When done, sprinkle fresh white breadcrumbs over the roast and quickly brown under a hot grill.
- Serve with a rich sauce of claret wine reduced gently until syrupy.
Estimated Calories
850 per serving
Cooking Estimates
You will need about 30 minutes to trim, blanch, and marinate the lamb. The lamb then roasts for 3 hours in the oven. Each serving contains an estimated 850 calories, and the recipe serves about 10 people.
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