Suckling Lamb with Plums
This dish is found in mountainous Epirus and Evrytania; not only does it show the sour-sweet traditional Greek cooking method -which is generally ignored- but it also reminds us of times when lemon didn’t exist in Greece. The lemon tree appeared in Greece during the Roman era but couldn’t be grown everywhere, instead they used vinegar or unripe grape juice, sour pomegranates and unripe plums – fresh or dried or in processed form (juice)- which provided the dish with acidity as well as a fruity taste.
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EmailIngredients:
1 ½ kg lamb, cut in single portions
25 medium sized plums
120 g dried onions, finely chopped
2 spring onions, finely chopped
150 ml white wine
flour
3 eggs
2-3 bay leaves
salt & pepper
olive oil
Procedure:
1. Heat the oil on high and brown the meat pieces well on both sides.
2. Add the onions. Stirr occasionally so as not to burn.
3. Once transparent, sprinkle with some flour and deglaze with white wine. Let the wine boil until the alcohol evaporates.
4. Add water, the bay leaves, and seasoning and let it simmer in low heat for about 1 ½ hour.
5. In the meantime peel and stone the plums and blanch them slightly. About 20 minutes before the meat finishes boiling , add the 20 plums in the casserole with the lamb pieces to boil and mash the rest of the fruit.
6. Beat the egg yolks with the plum pulp and slowly add some meat stock obtained from the lamb boiling, stir them all together.
7. Add the mixture to the casserole
8. Beat the egg whites and add them to the casserole but without reaching the boiling point as the sauce will get lumpy. Serve with cous cous or a rice pilaf.
