The following is a recipe for a great Sunday roast that has been in this Researcher's family for well over three generations and a long while before that. It harks back to an age when cinnamon was not the commonplace spice it is today, but rather an item of luxury from an era when spices were worth their weight in gold. The cooking time for the lamb in this entry ensures that you will get a nice pink joint rather than one that is cooked all the way through.

Ingredients

• 6lb Leg of lamb with lots of fat
• Powdered cinnamon
• 1 can chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh but canned is a lot easier)
• Half a pint of vegetable stock

Method

1. Rub the lamb all over with the powdered cinnamon, front and back. Be liberal.

2. Place in a metal roasting dish and cover with the canned tomatoes. Then add an additional sprinkle of cinnamon onto the tomatoes.

3. Roast in medium-high oven (170°C, Gas 6-7) on the middle shelf for 1.5 hours. Cover it for the first hour with foil, then remove foil for the last 30 minutes.

4. Remove from oven after this time and scrape off any excess tomato/cinnamon into the dish.

The Gravy

What makes this roast spectacular is the gravy. While the joint is resting, place your metal roasting dish over a low flame and add half a pint of vegetable stock into it and stir. What you should get is a wonderful, aromatic gravy of all the meat juices, tomatoes and cinnamon. Any juice that oozes from the meat while carving should be added to the gravy.

Serve the meat with roast potatoes, veggies of your choice and lashings of the superb gravy.