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A toast to the roast

The traditional roast is in decline. But it’s so easy to do. Just follow Joanna Lamiri’s guidelines and make Sunday special again

Doesn’t everyone love a roast? It makes an excellent centrepiece for family and friends, and a slow, indulgent celebration meal at the end of a long week. Roast beef, pork, lamb and chicken have long been staples of the British diet. But all this is changing. As scares like BSE and e-coli have started to turn more and more of us off eating meat, roast lunch is no longer a weekly event.

In any case, how many of us would know how to handle a side of beef, a leg of lamb or a joint of pork any more? Even if we did, we’re not used to having leftovers. Gone are the days when mother turned the remnants of Sunday’s roast into cold beef sandwiches on Monday, mince on Tuesday and Shepherd’s pie on Wednesday. And as people eat out ever more frequently – particularly in pubs, where there will invariably be a traditional Sunday roast on the blackboard – eating in can become a big and sometimes daunting task.

This is a shame. Roasting meat, along with baking, is one of the easiest, most comforting and most satisfying ways to cook. And as long as you source your meat carefully – from a reputable butcher, retailer or, better still, direct from an organic producer – there should be no reason to sideline it.

It’s worth roasting a joint just for the sauces, gravies and other things that go with the meat: tongue-tingling horseradish and crisp Yorkshire pudding with the beef; tart apple sauce and crackling with the pork; and sharp mint sauce with lamb. Chicken has a whole raft of partners: stuffings, bread sauce and chipolatas are traditional; a simple green salad with a squeeze of lemon is chic and a little bit French, especially if you eat it as a separate course after the meat.

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