I've had a request from the glw.

[Burney]

Mint sauce is a strange thing, isn't it? Let's be absolutely honest here: no one is eating it for the mint. It's the vinegar, cutting through the lamb grease, that's doing the work.

Just put a bottle of Sarson's on the table and be done with it.

Of course. But mint and lamb do work together - hence the prevalence of dried mint in Greek and Middle Eastern lamb dishes.

Besides, the French serve shoulder of lamb with capers and vinegar for the same reason. You wouldn't say 'lose the capers', though, would you?