Lammegryde med Dild

Danish lamb belongs to May. That's when the first of the new season's animals come to market, lean and grass-fed, raised on salt marshes along the coasts of Jutland and the grazing fields of Bornholm and Samsø. The meat tastes of where it has been. You can cook it any way you like once the season starts, but this is the dish I reach for first, because it lets the lamb speak plainly.

Lammegryde med dild is not a browned, wine-darkened stew. It is the opposite. The lamb is poached gently in water until the broth is clear and pale, then lifted out while a butter-and-flour base is whisked smooth with the cooking liquor and finished with cream, vinegar, and a great deal of fresh dill. The result is ivory-colored and delicate, the meat silky, the vegetables holding their shape, the sauce bright with herbs. It is a dish that rewards restraint.

Two things matter most. Start the lamb in cold water and bring it up slowly, skimming the foam until the broth runs clean. That's what gives you a pale sauce later instead of a muddy one. And use real dill, a generous bunch of it, chopped fresh at the last minute. Dried dill tastes of nothing. The season decides, and in Danish spring cooking, dill is as much the point as the lamb. You'll know when the balance is right because the sauce will taste both rich and alive at once.