On Easter Sunday Morning, the fire is started at about 7.00 am to
ensure that the wood is reduced to glowing embers by the time the roasting
starts. The lamb or goat, having been properly cleaned, is rubbed with lemon all
over his skin and seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano and thyme both outside and
inside. Then the souvla, the long round iron stick, having also been properly
cleaned and rubbed with lemon, is passed through the animal from one end and out
through the head. The back feet are secured by passing one through the muscle of
the other and are then tied with wire. It is also recommanded to tie with wire
the spine of the lamb on the spit.
Two iron poles with forked ends are
inserted in the earth by the fire. At the beggining of the roasting session the
lamb is at about 60-70 cm from the fire. Later the poles are lowered so the meat
rests at a distance of 30-40 cm from the fire.
The long iron spit ends in a
handle and members of the family take it in turns to sit and turn it almost
continually (Now there are machines doing that for us!). While the meat is
cooking they brush on a mixture of olive oil, lemon juice and oregano.
A
lamb roasted like this takes about 4 hours or less, presuming that it is of the
desirable weight of 5 kgr maximum. It is vital that the lamb cooks very slowly,
even if it takes longer than three hours. A clear indication that it is nearly
cooked is when the flesh shrinks away from the bones. Please note that the
fleshy parts (legs and shoulders) take longer to cook, so they draw most of the
glowing embers to the two ends, making two small piles of them under the fleshy
parts which gives those parts the extra heat they require, while the thin body
is cooking at a slower speed.
Serve with a lot of fresh season salad, taramosalata,
melitzanosalata
and Scarlet Easter Eggs.
For those who can't roast a lamb on the spit, there's also a recipe for Roast Lamb in the
Oven. |
