From Chef's Table · 2015- · Reconstructed
Whole Roasted Lamb (Cordero al Asador)
Serve when
Serve when Francis Mallmann crucifies a whole lamb on an iron cross over open coals and lets it roast for hours, slow enough that the fire becomes the only ingredient that matters.
In the series
Volume 1
- S1E3 · ~00:25:00 Francis Mallmann butterflies a whole lamb, splays it on an iron asador cross, and roasts it for eight hours over wood embers on a Patagonian island
In the series
Mallmann trained in the great kitchens of France before walking away from them, and this dish is the clearest statement of why: an entire animal, cooked for hours by wood and patience alone, with nothing hidden behind a sauce. It's the centerpiece of nearly every outdoor meal he serves in the episode.
Ingredients
Method
- Have a butcher butterfly the lamb, or work with the leg and shoulder joints separated flat for a home fire pit or large grill.
- Rub the meat all over with salt, crushed garlic, olive oil, and rosemary. Let it sit at room temperature for an hour before cooking.
- Build a wood or charcoal fire and let it burn down to steady embers, well away from direct flame — this is a slow radiant roast, not a sear.
- Skewer or secure the meat on a rotisserie spit, or set it on a raised rack well above the coals, skin side toward the heat.
- Roast low and slow for 4 to 6 hours for a home-scale cut (a full asador lamb takes 8 or more), turning and basting with its own juices occasionally, until the meat pulls easily from the bone.
- Rest, carve, and serve with chimichurri.
Substitutions
- A whole lamb on an iron cross: Almost no home cook has the setup for Mallmann's full asador rig. A bone-in leg and shoulder, cooked low and slow on a covered kettle grill with indirect coals, gets you the same long-smoke result at a scale a backyard can actually manage.