Appears in
Oxford Companion to Food

By Alan Davidson

Published 2014

  • About

saddle in the culinary sense (French selle, râble), is a joint of meat from lamb, mutton, or any species of deer. It is taken from the back, between the last rib and the hind legs. This gives a cut which consists of two loins and the vertebrae in between, plus the fillets (tenderloins) underneath; the ‘skirt’ (the thin flaps of muscle attached to the outer edges of the loins) can either be cut away or partially trimmed and folded underneath. A saddle of hare is a similar cut, but extends to the tail.