Mechoui, Algerian Roast Lamb

Algerian Mechoui made in Sonoma, California. Terrific photos worth a look.

Traditionally a mechoui is a roasted whole lamb. Mechoui means roast over a natural fire, not baked in an oven. Not surprisingly a whole lamb does not fit into my home oven. And I do not have the space to build a pit or an oven outside. Eventually I will post photos of a whole lamb being roasted outdoors with different types of heat sources.

Algerian roast lamb is cooked very slowly while basting with butter or olive oil or both. The seasoning can be as simple as just salt or can include a range of spices.

The meat should be extremely tender with a crispy skin. Personally I do not like "duplicating" the crispy skin that results from cooking over a natural fire in an oven by turning up the heat  during the last 15-20 minutes of cooking. Something about the texture bothers me.

Ingredients:

1 2-3 Kg leg of lamb (this has the end cut off obviously, a whole leg will not fit in my tiny home oven)
If you cannot find high quality fresh lamb, squeeze lemon juice on the lamb to cut the gaminess. Common American supermarket lamb can smell much gamier than the type of lamb available in Algeria or France)

1 stick of butter

1 tablespoon of spices . I used a blend of cumin, coriander, fennel and white and red peppercorns

Olive oil

Salt and pepper (don't be afraid of the salt. this is a good sized piece of meat)

2 cloves of garlic minced

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 300F

2) Make a paste with the butter, garlic and spices.

3) Make a dozen or so deep incisions into the leg, Season the lamb with salt and pepper.Stuff some of the seasoned butter into the incisions and pat onto the skin as shown. Add 1 cup of water to the pan. Baste the lamb every 20 minutes or so with olive oil and pan juices. I cooked this piece for about 3- 3 1/2 hours.

These are photos taken during the cooking process, You can see that the lamb stays moist at all times.

 

 

This is the color to look for. Serve immediately. If the image of a large piece of meat alone on a platter without any garnishes seems visually unexciting you can make a braised root vegetable dish and place it around the lamb. Obviously with the traditional method of roasting over a fire there are no pan juices. If you like skim the fat and strain the jus. Spoon it over the lamb or serve it separately.

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chef zadiFarid Zadi

Comments

[zinou]

Passionant! mais ça serait tellement mieux en français ou en arabe ou les deux!Merci.

[Paz]

I'd love to taste this lamb NOW. It looks succulent! Delicious!

Paz