Lamb Kleftiko Recipe

• 300 minutes to make
• Serves 5

I would like to tell you why this is call Kleftiko. The word comes from the time of the Greek revolution period of 1821, when bands of Greek guerrillas, called Klephts, hid in the mountains. "In Greek, kleftiko means -stolen meat. Read more . In order to survive they would steal a lamb or a goat from a flock as it grazed on a hillside. The thieves would cook the meat over many hours in a hole in the ground, with red hot stones and glowing embers, sealed the hole with soil so that no steam could escape to give them away." They would go on their missions and come back after hours to find a cooked meal. No other ingredients were added except maybe some salt, if they had any. Nowadays, the lamb is sealed inside parchment paper or aluminium foil and of course more ingredients are added to make it tastier. My mother used to cook it in a terra cotta pot with a lid and would mix flour with water and seal the lid with this mixture so that steam would not escape and cook it for three to four hours. See less

• lamb
• roast
• kleftiko
• tender
• soft
• garlicky
• spicy
• roast
• mediterranean