Kokoretsi

Lamb offal threaded on a spit and bound in intestine wound round it like thread, cooked slowly until the casing crisps.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains intestine, lamb.

Ingredients

• 1 set lamb offal: liver, heart, lungs, sweetbreads, about 1.5 kg
• 1 set lamb intestines, cleaned, about 2 m
• 3 lemons
• 4 tablespoons dried oregano
• 100 ml olive oil
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• a long spit or several thick metal skewers

Method

1. THE INTESTINE IS THREAD, NOT A CASING. It is not stuffed. The offal goes on the spit first in a tight block, and the intestine is then wound round and round it, overlapping, from one end to the other, so the whole thing is bound inside a single continuous layer that tightens as it cooks. Anyone who reads this as a sausage will be disappointed in a way that cannot be rescued at the fire.
2. CLEANING IS THE REAL WORK AND IT TAKES AN HOUR. The intestines are turned inside out -- run water in one end and the weight of it inverts them -- then rubbed hard with coarse salt and lemon, rinsed, and left in acidulated water for an hour. If they smell of anything but lamb when you finish, clean them again.
3. Offal trimmed of ducts and gristle and cut into pieces about 4 cm. Lungs and heart will be tougher than liver, so cut those smaller.
4. Everything tossed with lemon juice, oregano, oil, salt and pepper, and left 2 hours.
5. Threaded onto the spit, alternating liver with the tougher pieces so nothing is all one texture, and pushed together into a tight cylinder about 40 cm long.
6. One end of the intestine tied to the spit. Then wound round the whole length, each turn overlapping the last by about half, firmly, like whipping a rope. Back down the other way if there is length left.
7. The far end tucked under a turn and tied.
8. OVER EMBERS, NOT FLAME, and high up at first -- 50 cm from the coals for the first hour. Fat drips and flares, and a flare blackens the casing before the inside is warm.
9. Turned constantly, by hand or with a motor, 3 hours in total, lowered gradually to about 30 cm for the last 45 minutes.
10. Basted with the marinade and more lemon every half hour.
11. It is done when the casing is dark, crisp and tight and a skewer goes into the middle without resistance.
12. Rested 15 minutes, then cut across in 2 cm slices so every slice has the casing round the outside. Lemon over, and eaten in the fingers.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

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