Tarzan Lamb Roast-by popular demand!!

Tarzan Roast

This is no ordinary roast, in fact the name is slightly deceiving as you rely on smoke and radiated heat as opposed to the all encompassing heat of an oven..

You’ll need

A fatty leg of lamb (with the shank intact – very NB)
Sprigs of Rosemary
Couple of whole chillies (as hot as you can handle)
10-15 cloves of garlic, peeled, and cut in half
3-4 bunches of spring onions
¼ cup oyster sauce
A handful of dried Oregano
juice of 2 or 3 lemons
juice of 1 orange
2 onions, sliced
a baking tray
about half a meter of galvanised wire
2-3 meters of rope
a forked stick
basting brush
Small stool
1 x Wheelbarrow.

Lay the leg of lamb on it’s side in the baking tray, and using a small sharp knife, cut slits 3-5cm deep at a 45º angle all over the lamb (Imagine holding the leg of lamb by the shank and stabbing the meat like a psycho movie). Force rosemary sprigs, garlic and chilli slivers into the slits, then, dip the spring onions in the oyster sauce and force them in as well.

Next, mix the Oregano, balance of the oyster sauce, the onions and the juice from the lemons and orange, and pour all over the leg of lamb.

Ready to Cook

This amazing way of cooking a haunch of meat is just sublime, but takes hours. First, slip the wire thru the shank, twist it so there’s no chance of the meat falling into the fire and attach the wire to the rope with a slip knot and hang from the tree. Hang the lamb away from being directly above the coals and downwind so it catches all the smoke. Place a drip tray below the lamb to catch all the fatty juices which you can use to re-baste and keep it moist. You will need to turn the lamb frequently to cook evenly. Invariably, by the time it’s ready, you and your mates will be ravenous (and probably a little wobbly), but it’s worth it.

After 4 odd hours, poke a skewer into the meat at its thickest section to see if it’s done. If the juice that oozes out is red, the meat is still raw and needs more cooking time, pink and the meat is perfectly medium rare. When it is cooked raise the roast above the heat and let it rest for ten minutes.

I normally carve the meat with the wire still attached – that way, if it’s a bit too rare closer to the bone, you can just drop the roast and cook it for a bit longer.