Arni kleftiko

The story

Kleftiko takes its name from the klephts, outlaws who, the story goes, stole lambs and goats and cooked them slowly in sealed pits dug into the ground so that the smell would not give them away. Home cooks now get the same effect with a parcel of parchment: lamb marinated with lemon, garlic and oregano is wrapped with onion, peppers and a few chunks of hard cheese such as kefalotyri, then baked until it falls from the bone in its own juices. It is a year-round dish, not an Easter one. The Greek Easter centerpiece is a whole lamb or goat on the souvla, the spit, which turns over coals for at least five hours on Orthodox Easter Sunday, May 2, 2027, while someone bastes it every half hour with an oregano stalk dipped in oil and lemon. Families without a spit roast the lamb in the oven instead, and Greece Index lists kleftiko among the alternative Easter Sunday mains. This version leaves out the potatoes that often share the parcel, so the lemon potatoes in this edition can roast separately. Order a bone-in shoulder from the butcher a few days ahead and marinate it the night before.