Kuzu Haşlama

The broth is skimmed obsessively and served first as its own course, before the meat it came from.

Lamb. Not vegetarian — contains lamb.

Ingredients

• 4 lamb shanks, or 1.5 kg shoulder on the bone
• 2.5 litres cold water
• 1 onion, halved
• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 black peppercorns
• 4 carrots, in thick lengths
• 4 potatoes, in large chunks
• 2 courgettes, in thick chunks
• 1 tablespoon salt
• juice of 1 lemon
• a handful of parsley, chopped

Method

1. THE BROTH IS SKIMMED OBSESSIVELY AND SERVED FIRST AS ITS OWN COURSE, before the meat it came from. That is the shape of the meal and it decides the method. The lamb goes into COLD water and is brought up slowly, and for the first fifteen minutes a grey-brown scum rises continuously and is lifted off with a spoon -- five or six times, until nothing more comes. That skimming is the whole difference between a clear golden broth you can serve in a bowl on its own and a cloudy grey one that has to be hidden under vegetables. Then the meat and vegetables are lifted out for the main plate and the strained broth is drunk first.
2. IT STARTS IN COLD WATER, WHICH IS NOT OPTIONAL. Meat lowered into already-boiling water seizes and seals, and the proteins that would have risen as scum stay inside and cloud the broth instead. From cold, they coagulate slowly and float, which is what makes them skimmable.
3. IT NEVER BOILS AFTER THE SKIMMING. A bare simmer with the surface barely moving, for two and a half hours. A rolling boil emulsifies the lamb fat into the liquid and turns it permanently opaque, and no amount of straining brings it back.
4. THE VEGETABLES GO IN LATE AND IN ORDER. Carrot and potato with thirty minutes to go, courgette with ten. All in from the start and they disintegrate into the broth, which both ruins them and clouds it -- two faults from one mistake.
5. THE LEMON GOES INTO THE BOWL AND NOT THE POT. Squeezed over at the table, or stirred into each bowl of broth. Added to the pot it dulls over two and a half hours and also firms the meat slightly; added at the last moment it lifts a broth that is otherwise very gentle.
6. The lamb put in a large pot and covered with the 2.5 litres of COLD water. Not hot.
7. Brought SLOWLY to the boil over a medium heat.
8. SKIMMED five or six times as the grey scum rises, over the first 15 MINUTES, until nothing more comes up.
9. The onion, garlic, bay and peppercorns added.
10. Turned DOWN so the surface barely moves and simmered 2 HOURS. Never boiled.
11. The salt added, then the carrots and potatoes -- 30 MINUTES to go.
12. The courgettes added -- 10 MINUTES to go.
13. TESTED: the meat should pull from the bone and a knife go into the potato with no resistance.
14. The meat and vegetables LIFTED OUT onto a warm platter and covered.
15. The broth STRAINED. It should be CLEAR and golden; cloudy means it boiled or was under-skimmed.
16. The broth served FIRST in bowls, with lemon squeezed in and parsley.
17. The meat and vegetables served after, as the main plate, with more lemon.

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 Turkey · All recipes