Roast Lamb in the Arab Manner
From Medieval Cuisine of the Islamic World pg. 89
Here we have a traditional Bedouin method for roasting a whole lamb, using a more sophisticated version of the familiar earth oven.
Take a parboiled lamb or sheep, carve it lengthwise, cutting some slits [in the meat], and brush [it] with a little olive oil, saffron and strong spices such as pepper, caraway, dry coriander [seeds], and powdered Chinese cinnamon to dispel the fetid odor. Dig a pit as long and wide as the lamb, but still deeper, and carefully place inside it stones and slabs of marble and light a fire with wood or wood charcoal or some other fuel--in short, with whatever is at hand. Fan the fire well and, when the stones have turned red, put out the fire and remove the cinders, very rapidly so that the stones do not have tome to cool. Lay down on the stones a plait of green branches of tamarisk or willow or cane and lay the meat over it, spreading out [the meat] so that it does not fall over to one side. Cover it with a copper pan of [the sort used by] the Arabs or else with a tray, and cover it's sides with clay. On top of the pan make a fire [in such a way] that [the heat] is uniformly distributed. Leave alone until [the lamb] is cooked, then sweep away the [remnants of the] fire and remove the lamb [from the pit].
We used:
2 lamb shanks totaling approximately 1 1/2 lb
2 lbs mostly boneless lamb chunks (It had a couple of bones)
2 TBSP. olive oil (1 TBSP would have been enough)
1/2 TBSP. ground black pepper
3/4 tsp whole caraway seed
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp whole coriander seed
2 pinches ground saffron
Grind all dry spices together to create a slightly course powder. Mix the parboiled lamb chunks with olive oil to coat, then toss with spices. Wrap lamb tightly in tinfoil. After the stones in the pit are hot remove the burning charcoals quickly, throw the green branches in and place the lamb on top. Expect the branches to start to smoke. Place the pan over the lamb and cover with wet clay. Bury with dirt. If you've done this quickly enough the charcoals will still be hot enough to restart a fire on top of the buried lamb. Feed the flame for a while (we didn't time it, we just went until we ran out of wood), the time will depend on how much lamb you are cooking. Then let the flames die down and go out. Once the flames are out dig out the lamb and serve.
Darius took pictures through the whole process while the 3 adults at the meeting worked through the process. Here are the pictures:
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