PLAT DU JOUR : Roasted Lamb’s Tails & New Potatoes

 For Today’s Lunch:

Roasted Sweet & Sticky Lamb’s Tails with Roasted New Potatoes

 

 

I found some lost lamb’s tails forlornly bleating in a dark corner my freezer and promptly decided to ‘save’ them, accompanied by a serious starch overload.

 

Barbequed lamb’s tails are a favourite local delicacy often mentioned in revered tones, but are seldom seen. We don’t find them at our normal supermarkets and franchise grocery stores. You need to be on a good footing with your friendly local butchery to order them, or know of the few specialist butcheries that do stock them on a frequent basis.

 

Lamb’s tails require a bit of prior effort and inside knowledge before being baked, roasted or barbequed.  The secret to lamb’s tails that are soft and succulent on the inside, yet crispy and delectably sticky on the outside, is to marinate them overnight in an acidic marinade and then steam them (to render excess fat and soften the connective tissue) before being barbequed, baked or oven roasted (as is the case here).

 

The processes for these lovely fellows presented here, were:

1. Thoroughly rinse the tails before transferring them to a suitably sized Ziploc style bag. Add the juice from one lemon, 3 tablespoons of white (or brown) grape vinegar and a tablespoon each of chopped garlic, fresh rosemary and olive oil.  Mix thoroughly, seal the bag and marinate overnight in the fridge. Turn the bag every so often before retiring for the night.
2. Remove the lamb tails from the marinade (do not shake off the excess liquid) and steam for 60 minutes in a suitably sized pan over water containing 5 dried bay leaves, 5 pimento berries and a tablespoon of dried rosemary leaves. Turn the tails over every 20 minutes and make sure the pan does not boil dry. Pressure cooking the tails for 20 – 25 minutes apparently achieve the same effect as steaming (I don’t own a pressure cooker).
3. Marinate the steamed tails for 1 hour in your favourite sweet & sticky BBQ sauce or marinade in a covered bowl.
4. Transfer the tails to a wire rack in a shallow roasting or Swiss roll pan with their best sides facing upward. Oven roast for 20 – 25 minutes at 180°C, basting every 5 minutes with the same sweet & sticky BBQ sauce or marinade used to marinate the tails in. Do not turn the tails over when basting them, they will cool down too much and deter the basting from caramelizing properly.

Some additional notes:

• Five tails should be enough for one person, but they’re popularity is very much like roasted potatoes: when they’re good, there’s never enough to go around in spite of however generously you calculated beforehand.
• Do not expect much table conversation while everyone is digging in.
• The initial acidic marinade and subsequent steaming makes the meat soft and succulent, but roasting with the sweet basting sauce or marinade turn these bad boys into a maxed out exercise in delectable stickiness totally unsuitable for knife and fork application. Bowls of warm water with a slice of lemon in each are mandatory for each diner. A moist, warm cloth for each diner will be very considerate too.
• A knife and fork will not make an impression on the lamb tails. Manual operation is mandatory here. And if you’re uncomfortable with other people seeing you eat with your hands, then the scullery or porch is in your future.
• Oven roasted lamb’s tail are exceedingly good, but barbequing them over hot hardwood coals transform the delectable into the divine. Turn them very frequently on the barbeque mesh, baste frequently and keep a sharp eye out for charring of the sweet, sticky surface layer on each lamb’s tail.

 

© RS Young, 2021

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