Lamb Chops with Mint Sauce

The first proper spring lamb arrives at the market sometime in April, and you know it when you see it. The chops are smaller than you expect, pale pink, with a clean white fat that hasn't had time to yellow. That's the one you want. The butcher will tell you the same thing if you ask, which you should.

Mint sauce is not a condiment. It's a counterpoint. The lamb is rich and sweet and wants something sharp alongside it, something that cuts through and wakes you up between bites. A handful of mint from the garden, chopped until the board turns green, a splash of vinegar, a pinch of sugar. It should sting slightly. If it's polite, you haven't made it right.

The new potatoes go on first. Small ones, the kind that don't need peeling, just a scrub and twenty minutes in salted water until a knife slides through without resistance. Drain them, toss them in butter while they're still hot, and leave them in the warm pot with the lid on. They'll look after themselves.

I cook this at least twice in spring, once when the mint is just coming up and once more when I've bought too many chops at the market because the lamb looked good and I couldn't help myself. I wrote it down in the notebook: lamb, mint, new potatoes, Tuesday. Some meals don't need more description than that.