On the heat. Medium

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg lamb topside, sliced 10 mm
• 200 g lamb tail fat, sliced thin
• — MARINADE
• 200 g yoghurt · 4 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of 2 lemons · 3 tbsp vinegar
• 8 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp baharat or seven-spice
• 1 tbsp cumin · 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp each cinnamon, cardamom, cloves
• 2 tsp salt · black pepper

Method

1. Marinate the slices overnight.
2. Stack them onto two vertical skewers pushed through a loaf tin, or thread them onto a long skewer laid across a deep tray — alternating meat, meat, fat, meat. Press the stack down hard so there are no air gaps.
3. Cover with foil. 160 °C for 2 hours.
4. Foil off, temperature to 230 °C, and roast 25 minutes until the outside is dark and crisp.
5. Shave thin slices off the outside with a long sharp knife. If you want more, put the stack back in for 15 minutes and shave again — which is exactly how a real shawarma spit works.
6. Flatbread, tahini sauce, pickled turnip, tomato, parsley.

Cook's note. The stack is the technique. Layered thin slices baste each other and compress into something that carves like a whole muscle. Loose slices just roast.

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