Cordero patagónico

Ingredients

The lamb

• 1whole young lamb, 8–10 kg, split down the breastbone and opened flat
• 150 gcoarse salt
• 3 litreswater, for the salmuera
• 1 headgarlic, crushed, for the salmuera
• 4 sprigsrosemary or a handful of oregano, for the salmuera

The fire

• 20–30 kghardwood: ñire, lenga or oak; quebracho charcoal as backup
• 1iron cross (asador de cruz) or a stake and crossbar
• Heavy wire, to lash the ribs and legs to the cross

To serve

• 300 mlchimichurri
• Salt
• Bread, and a simple lettuce and tomato salad

Directions

1. Make the salmuera by dissolving the coarse salt in the water with the crushed garlic and herbs. Build a large wood fire two hours before you need to cook and let it burn down to a deep bed of embers.
2. Cook rib side to the fire for 2.5 to 3 hours, brushing every 30 minutes with the salmuera using a bunch of herbs as a brush. If it flames, rake embers away or move the cross back; a burnt lamb cannot be recovered.
3. Turn the cross to put the skin side to the fire for the last 1.5 to 2 hours, moving it closer, to 40–50 cm, so the skin blisters, tightens and turns crackling-crisp. It is ready when the shoulder meat pulls easily from the bone and a skewer through the thickest part of the leg comes out hot and the juices run clear; a thermometer should show 75–80°C (165–175°F) at the leg.
4. Take the cross off the fire, rest 15 minutes, then cut the lamb down onto a board with a heavy knife, dividing it into ribs, shoulders and legs.
5. Serve with chimichurri, salt and bread.

Technique

• This is cordero al palo, the Patagonian ceremony: a whole animal, wood not charcoal, and hours of tending. It is cooked for a crowd, and the point is the day, not the speed.
• Salmuera, not marinade. Patagonian asadores use only salt water with garlic and herbs, applied throughout cooking so the meat stays moist and lightly seasoned.
• Distance controls the cook, not time. Wind is the enemy: rig a windbreak, or one side will cook twice as fast as the other.
• Patagonian lamb is grass-fed and slaughtered young, at three to five months, which is why it tastes mild and needs so little seasoning.

Substitutions

• No whole lamb or iron cross: butterfly a 3 kg leg and a 2 kg shoulder, wire them to a rack and cook beside a hearth fire, or roast at 140°C (275°F) for 4 hours then blast at 220°C (425°F) for 20 minutes.
• No hardwood: use good lump charcoal topped up hourly, though you lose the wood smoke that defines the dish.
• Kid goat is cooked in exactly the same way in the north, where it is called chivito al asador.

Variations

• Cordero al asador en cruz, the classic Patagonian iron cross.
• Cordero al horno de barro, roasted in a clay oven in the Andean valleys.
• Chivito criollo, the northern kid-goat equivalent.

History

Patagonian sheep farming grew with 19th-century British and Welsh settlement; the lamb now carries an Argentine geographical indication.

Frequently asked questions

What is Cordero patagónico?

Cordero patagónico is a main from Argentina: whole lamb splayed on an iron cross and roasted for hours by the fire. Patagonian sheep farming grew with 19th-century British and Welsh settlement; the lamb now carries an Argentine geographical indication.

How long does Cordero patagónico take to make?

Cordero patagónico takes 45 min of preparation and 4 to 6 hr beside the fire of cooking. The recipe makes 10 to 14 servings. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Cordero patagónico?

Yes, within limits. No whole lamb or iron cross: butterfly a 3 kg leg and a 2 kg shoulder, wire them to a rack and cook beside a hearth fire, or roast at 140°C (275°F) for 4 hours then blast at 220°C (425°F) for 20 minutes. No hardwood: use good lump charcoal topped up hourly, though you lose the wood smoke that defines the dish. Kid goat is cooked in exactly the same way in the north, where it is called chivito al asador.

What is the most important thing to get right in Cordero patagónico?

This is cordero al palo, the Patagonian ceremony: a whole animal, wood not charcoal, and hours of tending. It is cooked for a crowd, and the point is the day, not the speed.