Bread with méchoui — Mauritanian-style grilled lamb meal

Warm bread with cumin-seasoned grilled lamb slices and fresh salad: a home adaptation of a meal built around méchoui.

Ingredients

• 800 g boneless leg of lamb, cut into 1.5 cm thick whole-muscle slices
• 400 g already baked wheat bread or wheat flatbreads
• 20 ml vegetable oil
• 2 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 lemon, half for the meat and half for serving
• 2 tomatoes and 1 small cucumber
• 4 g salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper

Preparation

Set aside a board and plate for raw meat, separate from salad and serving utensils. Mix the oil, garlic, cumin, juice of half a lemon, salt and pepper.

Coat the lamb, cover and refrigerate for 15 min, included in preparation time. Do not marinate at room temperature.

Meanwhile, wash the tomatoes and cucumber, cut with clean utensils and keep chilled. Cut the remaining lemon half into wedges.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Drain the slices lightly and discard marinade that touched raw meat. Grill for about 5–7 min per side depending on thickness, without burning the outside.

Use a thermometer to check at least 63 °C in the centre of whole-muscle slices, then rest for at least 3 min on a clean plate. Cook longer if necessary; time alone does not guarantee temperature.

During resting, warm the bread for 3–5 min in another clean pan or a low oven. Slice the lamb with clean utensils and serve immediately with bread, salad and lemon.