Crispy lamb belly with miso aubergines and chickpea & tahini purée from Mazi
Each month editor, Keith Kendrick, tests a recipe from a new cookbook
‘I need to have more respect for the umami powers of miso’
You’re aware that Easter comes early this year (1 April). Well, of course you are – the supermarket shelves have been groaning with chocs, chicks, bunnies and bonnets since before we packed the Christmas tree away. And for my family, Easter means lamb. Every year I stuf a leg with anchovies, garlic and lemon and roast it pink. It’s a glorious tradition. But it ain’t cheap, and with three children, I want to keep up the ritual without breaking the bank. Lamb belly (also known as breast) to the rescue! The equivalent of pork belly, it’s a cut packed with favour (and fat) but it costs just pennies per head – £3 for a joint that feeds fve of us.
But what to do with it? The aforementioned fat can put of the fussy eater but there is a solution – crispy lamb belly with miso aubergine and chicken & tahini puré – which I found in Mazi, a beautiful new cookbook from Christina Mouratoglou and Adrien Carré, the folks behind the eponymous restaurant in London’s Notting Hill. The book gives Greek cuisine a modern twist and the accompanying blurb states: ‘Tired of outdated perceptions of typical Greek food, Mazi (translation: together, gathering, company) is on a mission to revolutionise Greek cuisine. With a strong emphasis on sharing a feast of small dishes… it brings a trendy tapas vibe to recipes exploding with favour yet relying only on the nest fresh ingredients and simple techniques to achieve the best results. Mazi is innovative Greek food at its best: intrisically edgy, cool and completely delicious.’ Food of the (Greek) gods, so to speak! But how easy is it to cook – and would it go down well with the kids?
The ingredients were easy to source from my local supermarket (Morrisons, since you ask) but the number of steps seemed onerous. Actually, they were onerous: braising the lamb (3 hours); preparing miso (2 hours); salting aubergines (1 hour); making a chickpea and tahini purée (10 mins); griddling the lamb and miso-brushed aubergines (5 mins). Phew! Verdict: The crispy lamb was a revelation: a crunchy exterior with a soft interior that still had a bit of chew. But I overdid it with the miso. Instead of brushing the aubergine, I slathered it on, which made the overall experience too salty. Not Mazi’s fault, of course: I just need to have more respect for the umami powers of miso. Cook again? Defnitely. But I’ll need to fnd a free weekend to do it.