Ouma Marie’s Lamb Neck

By Claudine Noppe

After my Grandma passed away I realised that some of our most precious moments happened at the dinner table or in the kitchen. Our family loves cooking and baking and it all stems from my gran. As a single mother she baked goods for the local ‘tuisnywerheid’ to stay afloat. It’s safe to say that she knew her way around a kitchen! She taught my mom everything she knew, and then they taught me. One holiday my gran and I went through her cooking and baking repertoire and she wrote down of her favourite recipes for me.

My parents always spoke about how delicious my gran’s slow cooked lamb neck was. Unfortunately we never got to cook it together, but I thought to honor her memory, I’d give it a go. The hardest part of this was to decipher her hand writing and figuring out how much a handful and a sprinkle really is. The second hardest part was finding lamb neck. It seems to be a very rare commodity and that might be because it is severely underutilized. It is a relatively cheap cut of meat, but boy, it is packed with flavour. The little piece of marrow in the center cooks out into the sauce and creates a creamy mouthful, while the succulent, fatty meat just falls away from the bones with ease. I did not even do that much to the lamb, and it tasted fantastic. This dish is all about the lamb, with just a few other ingredients, to really maximize the flavour. The touch of curry powder whispers in the background while the lamb just sings. I guess that’s the other thing my gran taught me: you don’t need a lot to make something incredible. Sometimes the simplest things in life are the best.

Click here for the downloadable recipe.

Ingredients:

·         Lamb neck 1.2 kg

·         Curry powder 1 t

·         Red wine vinegar 1 T

·         Water 3 – 4 cups

·         Bay leaves 3

·         Sugar 1 t

·         Small Nicola Potatoes 700 g

·         Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 120 °C. Put a cast iron or ceramic pot on a high heat. Brown the lamb neck pieces. Do not over crowd the pot, so rather do this in batches. Salt the pieces while they are browning.

2. Once all the meat is browned, take the pot off the heat and add the curry powder. Dry fry for a couple of seconds and then add the vinegar. Put the browned lamb back in the pot and cover with cold water. Add the bay leaves and sugar. With a lid on, slow roast the lamb in the oven for 4 – 6 hours, or until the meat falls from the bone.

3. Peel and quarter the potatoes. Add them to the lamb and roast for another hour. Season with salt and pepper.

4. When the potatoes are soft, the dish is ready to be served. I recommend serving it with some fresh herbs, fluffy basmati rice and blistered cherry tomatoes.