Shoulder of Lamb, Whole 2.5 kg

A classic whole lamb* shoulder dish is served boulangère style on sliced potatoes. Perfect to slow cook and the tender lamb falls off the bone, the flavours rich and comforting. Slow smoking over a barbecue is another excellent preparation, the smoke perfectly complimenting the sweet lamb.

Chef Val Warner says "the cook’s friend the lamb shoulder is a very versatile and forgiving joint in that its particularly well fatted structure will allow for both long and short cooks and even overcooks when the wine and words were flowing to distraction.

The shoulder is my absolute favourite, adored, worshipped and honoured cut of lamb. The leg I only ever butterfly and cast onto charcoal (rarely if ever entering the oven) unlike the hundreds of shoulders my greedy lifetime has so far witnessed.

Where to start really as there are far too many dishes to achieve with a shoulder! 

Birria is an absolute favourite amongst Mexican braises, a rich deep mix of chillies, spices, onions and vinegar. Goat being a little more stubborn to cook, replacing it with lamb shoulder it delivers just as well. Mop up the vibrant sauce with corn tortillas and fry them before filling with the meat. Pull from the bone and devour with an accompaniment of black beans and salsas. You must try birria.

Thinking of Aegean or Mediterranean, the scrawny mountain lamb nibbling across the dry scrub and I love to roast it with the very herbs I imagine in such places. Herbs like sage, thyme, oregano, camomile and rosemary lend wondrous flavours. Alternatively use the same herbs but braise the shoulder with the addition of white wine, honey and lemon juice, for deliciously melting meat with an unforgettable sauce. Pot roasting but with the addition of fresh figs leaves lends a magical taste as does steamed and softened leaves draped on the lamb then burnt off on the barbecue. If I find a fig tree I always bring leaves home.

Regular trips to Norway will often see me steam the lamb in seaweed first before roasting it over fragrant incense like juniper wood whilst perhaps brushing it with a sweet barbecue sauce of lingonberries and blueberries.

With my children living in Spain we will often roast a joint rubbed all over with dry herbs, smoked paprika, fresh garlic and then eat it with French fries and a simple sauce having mixed a little sherry or red wine into the juices."

*Swaledale lambs roam free across vast distances, migrating between valleys and hill tops, foraging as they go. The limestone pastures of the Yorkshire Dales are home to a unique range of herbs, grass and wildflowers, the cocktail of which bestows the lamb with its distinctive flavour. Robust and slightly sweet in character, the Swaledale lamb also has a subtle herbal undertone; the provenance is unmistakably Yorkshire.