Pawaru-Grahmata

№ 43II. nodaļa

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Grilled lamb's head with herb crumbs

  • Serves 4 as a light meal
  • about 2½ hours, plus soaking
  • Melnraksts · vēl nav izmēģināts

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Modernizētslpp. 87–88 · PDF 101–102
4 porcijas

The book gives no quantities; the amounts below are ours.

Method

8 soļi
  1. Soak the heads in cold water in the fridge for 2–3 hours, changing the water once or twice, to draw out the blood.
  2. If the heads still have skin and wool, simmer them for 10–15 minutes until the hair loosens, plunge them into cold water, pluck and scrape them clean and rinse. Skinned heads, the usual kind today, skip this step.
  3. Take out the brains if the butcher hasn't. Soak them in cold salted water for 1 hour, peel off the thin membrane, then poach them for 10 minutes in barely simmering salted water with a splash of vinegar (our addition). Drain.
  4. Put the half heads in a pot of fresh salted water and simmer gently for 1–1¼ hours, until the cheek meat is tender (our addition; see Notes).
  5. Cut back the meat at the front by the nose far enough to pull off the white skin of the palate; clean out the ears. Pat dry.
  6. Heat the oven to 220 °C or the grill to high. Score the cheek meat a few times, brush it with melted butter and press on the herb crumbs.
  7. Roast or grill on a rack, cut side up, for 20–25 minutes, until crisp, golden and piping hot.
  8. Warm the brains in the 15 g butter with a little salt and pepper. Serve them spooned over the meat side of each half head, or separately in a small dish.

Notes

What the book says vs. what we added

the book soaks a sheep's or lamb's head, boils it until the hair comes away, cools it, plucks and rinses it, splits it, cuts back the meat by the nose to pull off the palate skin and cleans the ears, then squeezes out the brains and warms them with butter, salt and pepper. The meat is scored, buttered, coated in breadcrumbs with pepper, salt and parsley and grilled on a gridiron, and the brains go on the meat side or in a little salad bowl. The amounts, times, the longer simmer and poaching the brains are ours.

Pre-cooking

the book boils the head only until the hair loosens and then grills it; on a modern grill the meat stays tough, so we simmer it until tender first, as Greek and Middle Eastern cooks do.

Getting lamb's heads

halal, Turkish, Greek and Middle Eastern butchers sell them, usually skinned and split. Heads from older sheep are not sold in many countries, so lamb it is.

Brains

often already removed or not sold. The dish works without them; the crisp cheek meat and tongue are the best part.

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