The Sunday Roast Trimmings: Gravy, Mint Sauce, Horseradish and More
The Sunday roast is as much about the trimmings as the meat. Each roast has a traditional sauce, and the side dishes are what turn it from a piece of meat into a feast. Here is who goes with whom.
The traditional pairings come from centuries of habit: mint with lamb, apple with pork, horseradish with beef. Each sauce does the same thing, which is to cut through the richness of the meat with sharpness or sweetness. Once you know the logic, you can improvise with confidence.
Roast potatoes come first. The secret is a rough surface and very hot fat: par-boil the potatoes, steam them dry, shake them in the colander to fluff the edges, then roast them in goose fat or dripping until they shatter when bitten.
Yorkshire pudding is the other must-have. Traditionally it was served before the meat, with gravy, to fill people up. Today it is more often served alongside beef, and it is still the best vehicle for gravy.
Gravy comes in many forms, but a rich onion gravy, made from slowly browned onions and beef stock, goes with almost everything. Give the onions the time they deserve and the gravy will do most of the work.
Roast lamb takes mint sauce, a sharp mix of chopped fresh mint, sugar and vinegar that cuts through the richness of the meat. Roast beef takes horseradish, a fiery, creamy sauce of freshly grated root, and a spoonful makes the whole plate wake up.
Roast pork calls for apple sauce. Bramley apples cook down to a tart, fluffy purée that sits beautifully against pork and crackling.
For vegetables, cauliflower or leeks in a cheese sauce are a classic, and a pot of braised red cabbage is a popular addition. Our version comes from Germany, but its sweet-sour flavour suits roast meat well.
The hardest part of a Sunday roast is timing, because so many things must be ready at once. Work backwards: put the meat in first, rest it for at least twenty minutes while you finish the potatoes and Yorkshire puddings, and make the gravy last in the meat tin. The sauces can all be made the day before, apart from the gravy, which is best fresh.
Whatever you serve, put it all on the table at once and let everyone help themselves. That is what makes it a Sunday roast.