Don’t call a lamb from the lovely French region of Lozère just another lamb. It really is much more and you can taste it. Forget about those deep-frozen guys shipped around the world from New Zealand (nothing against NZ!). A Lozère lamb, nicely prepared, will offer rare culinary pleasures, amazing texture, and a sound taste.
I cooked this one in the oven – a lamb shoulder from a Parisian expert butcher in the tiny Rue du Pas-de-la-Mule – for five hours at 120°C (250°F). I was in the mood to daringly season the dish with lots of herbs and spices: grains of coriander, cumin, fennel and more, olives, of course, some dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers and the very edgy piment d’Espelette, a spice you should definitely discover if you didn’t know it yet. In the end, I added generous pinches of Maldon salt which a friend brought as a gift the other day. Excellent. The family enjoyed it.
I bet Le Creuset is your favourite pot 😉 I still haven’t dared buying such an expensive dish… There always seem to be other priorities. The dish looks extraordinary and the small potatoes are beautiful. I like your choice of spices and herbs too. I should cook more lamb!