Boulfaf

Lamb liver wrapped in caul fat and grilled over coals, where the fat melts away and bastes it as it goes.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains caul fat, which is the membrane round the gut, lamb.

Ingredients

• 1 kg lamb liver, in 4 cm cubes
• 300 g caul fat, soaked and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• skewers
• coarse salt and extra cumin, to serve

Method

1. THE CAUL FAT IS A SELF-BASTER AND IT DISAPPEARS. Liver has almost no fat of its own and goes from pink to grey and grainy in about ninety seconds over coals. Wrapped in a sheet of caul, it cooks inside a layer of melting fat that keeps it moist and then renders away to nothing, leaving a thin crisp skin. Without it this is a dish about disappointment.
2. SO IT IS COOKED FAST AND SERVED PINK. Six to eight minutes in total, turned often. Liver cooked through is liver wasted.
3. AND THE PIECES ARE NOT PACKED TIGHT on the skewer. A finger's gap between them lets the heat get round; pressed together they steam and the caul does not crisp.
4. Caul fat soaked in cold water with a splash of vinegar 30 minutes, then rinsed and spread out carefully -- it tears easily and is worth handling gently.
5. Liver trimmed of any tubes and membrane and cut into even 4 cm cubes.
6. Tossed with the cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt and oil, and left 30 minutes. NOT longer -- salt draws water out of liver and an hour in it starts to firm the surface.
7. The caul cut into squares roughly 10 cm.
8. Each cube of liver wrapped in a square of caul, with the ends tucked under, into a neat parcel.
9. Threaded onto skewers with a small gap between each.
10. Charcoal lit and burned down to white embers. No flame.
11. Skewers over the coals, turned every 90 seconds, 6 to 8 minutes in total. The caul will render, bubble and go translucent, then crisp.
12. Done when the outside is browned and a cube cut open is still faintly pink in the centre.
13. Straight onto a plate with coarse salt and more cumin beside them, and bread. Eaten hot 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.

Filed under Morocco · All recipes