Spicy mutton spit-roast with sumac on charcoal grill

Fine quality mutton, lean meat, cut in small pieces and skewered along with pieces of fat in between. A spicy marinade with hot chili flakes for spicy taste and sumac –a spice with a unique and sharp taste- for extra flavor.

A few more spices, carefully selected and in the right proportion, are giving their scents to the spit-roast for a unique, spicy taste. The tomato juice, also scented with herbs, will make the already tender dry-aged meat, even softer.

In our company around the grill, we have Panagiotis, a dear friend who is a livestock breeder. He is breeding his sheep with great care and feeding them with organic food which he also cultivates himself. He has also brought us some mutton ribs that we‘re going to grill on the grilling grate without any marinade or spices, just the original taste. We will only add some fine salt and freshly ground thyme at the end of grilling. All these are just a very good reason to gather our friends around the grill. To us, grilling is communication.

INGREDIENTS

4.5 kg ( 9.9 lb) lean mutton meat
Mutton fat
50 g sea salt (preferably fleur de sel)
9 g black pepper
4.5 g garlic powder
7 g sumac
2.5 g allspice
2.5 g nutmeg
9 g hot chili flakes
4 ripe tomatoes
4 tsp dried thyme
4 tsp rosemary
120 ml sunflower oil

PREPARATION

Apart from carefully selecting the meat, it’s best to have mutton meat that is aged for 12 days in the butcher’s fridge. Debone the meat and remove all the fat, but keep it aside. You won’t add it in the marinade but you will place these pieces of fat between the meat pieces on the skewer. It’s best to use spices’ seeds and crush them in a mortar to release all of their oils. Put the salt in the mortar last. It will absorb the spices’ scents so that you‘ll get a scented salt which will spread all these aromas throughout the meat.

After cutting the meat in pieces suitable for small or large spits, blend 4 ripe tomatoes along with thyme and rosemary. After blending well, wait for a while until the pulp absorbs the herbs’ aroma. Drain the clear liquid from the pulp. This scented tomato juice will be the base and the first step of the marinating. Pour the tomato juice on the pieces of meat, mix well to spread it throughout the meat and wait until it’s absorbed (20 minutes approx.). Next, it’s time to add the spices. Add them gradually while mixing.

Add the sunflower oil last. After mixing well with the oil, you can put the meat in a sealed food bag or simply cover the vessel you used for mixing and refrigerate for 18-24 hours. You should mix 2-3 times during this period.

COOKED ON amber.q A

COOKING

Inside the fire cabin of your charcoal grill, pile up the charcoals, place alcohol-soaked cotton balls on the top in several places and light up the fire. In about 25-30 minutes the charcoals will light up easily, quickly and without smoke.

The charcoals light up more easily when the alcohol-soaked cotton is placed on top. When the charcoals are fully lit, spread them inside the cabin. If they release strong heat, throw some ash on the coals. Grill at medium to high temperature.

Next to the small spits, you can grill mutton ribs on the grilling grate. While the small spits are rotating and roasting on their own, the mutton ribs need your attention and you turning them over frequently.

Remove the small spits when the internal temperature is 65-70 oC (149-158 oF). After removing them, cover with aluminum foil for 6-7 minutes and then cut them. Also, put some salt and thyme on the mutton ribs. Serve with roasted tomatoes and potatoes. Hot green peppers are a great option, too.

Always have good company, because this is what makes food -grilled or cooked- taste so good! Grilling, dear friends, is communication.

Happy grilling to everyone!