Spiced Mutton

Method

1. Bone the joint and rub it well with black pepper, a little powdered thyme, a pinch of mace and fine oatmeal - do not use salt.
2. Wrap the whole in cabbage leaves, and cover in foil (traditionally the meat would have been thickly covered in mutton fat).
3. Roast very slowly, allowing 20 minutes/lb of meat.
4. Baste well at least twice during cooking and when basted add a cupful of cider to the fat in the pan.
5. It can be eaten either hot or cold.

This recipe was a common way to prepare roast mutton in the UK until the War.  After the war I can remember eating what my mother called mutton.  I hated its smell and, when cold, the fat.

I can remember being sick once or twice as a result of eating it.  Some time ago I had to kill a sheep that had attacked a very good friend called Roy Holmes who cuts up my meat in France.  The attack was so serious that he could not walk easily for 6 months.  Really he should have gone to hospital but he refused.

As a result of killing the sheep there were several pieces of mutton to eat.

To my surprise I liked this recipe and the resulting roast meat.  It just melted in the mouth.  Better to eat hot than cold though.