On the heat. Mild

Ingredients

• 2 kg lamb shoulder, bone in
• 1 whole head garlic, cloves peeled
• Juice of 3 lemons, plus the squeezed halves
• 100 ml olive oil
• 2 tbsp dried Greek oregano
• 1 tbsp salt · black pepper
• 6 potatoes, in large chunks
• 200 g feta, in slabs
• 2 bay leaves · 2 cinnamon sticks
• 150 ml white wine

Method

1. Stab the shoulder all over and push a garlic clove into each slit.
2. Rub with lemon, oil, oregano, salt and pepper. Leave two hours, or overnight.
3. Line a deep tray with two long sheets of baking paper crossed, then foil under them. Potatoes in the bottom, shoulder on top, feta tucked around, wine and lemon halves in.
4. Seal it completely — paper folded over, then foil crimped tight. No steam may escape. That seal is the whole method.
5. 160 °C for 4 hours. Do not open it, do not check it, do not baste it.
6. Open the parcel, spoon the juices over, and give it 25 minutes at 220 °C uncovered to brown. Rest 20 minutes. It falls apart with a spoon.

Cook's note. The name. Kleftes were bandits who cooked stolen lamb in sealed pits so the smoke would not give them away. The seal is not decorative — it is the original point.

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