I love offering this option at my events and it has become a favourite of many, especially at my seated events. As you can see in some of the images, it has been done for larger groups of up to 80 guests as the main course. The key, yet again, is time! You need time. Like a good red wine, there is absolutely no way to get this type of flavour in your meat without being patient and setting the perfect roasting environment for your cut of meat. Justin Bonello was my inspiration for this delicious cut of meat and his simply amazing, yet ancient way of preparing it. Justin refers to it as a Tarzan Roast and he has a great recipe in his book; Cooked in Afrika. Many have their favourite recipe for a leg of lamb, I’m not a fan of injecting the meat with weird and artificial flavouring sauces, it’s just not something I would do. I will settle for a salty brine mixture but nothing more. Lamb and rosemary - it’s like bread and butter. Making a small incision with a sharp knife, cut small slits into the lamb to place rosemary and garlic into slits. Once done, I use my Mr Braai Guy – Braai Zest with great results. Rub the entire leg, or legs, with a good quality rub. Thereafter cover with Maldon Salt. My advice… if you don’t have a good rub, stick to Maldon and the juice of fresh lemons. Basting I stick to making my own basting sauce as I don’t easily trust mass-produced, off-the-shelf products. However, I like the natural smoky flavours of the lamb to be the hero when doing a hanging leg. I drizzle lemon juice over the leg for the duration of the cooking time. This is where Justin Bonello’s basting is a delicious option. It’s one I have often used and will continue using. Time I have found that in a closed environment you’d need 4-6 hours and up to 8 hours in an open-air environment, where the elements like wind and temperature affect your cooking time. Technique Find a way to hang the legs, some would use a tree. In my case with doing this for larger groups, I normally make up a plan with 2 x tripods on either side of a fire pit and extend a rigid pole between the two tripods. Hanging the legs from the pole over the fire pit, not too far away from the fire but certainly not close enough to burn. Build the fires around the legs, with no direct heat underneath them. Below it, you want a steel dish to catch all the delicious fatty lamb juices. I like throwing fresh rosemary branches into the fire for a fragrant smokey flavour. When basting, if that’s what I’m doing, I normally baste for roughly 30% of my cooking time. You will notice in the images that I show three different hanging ideas. The closed option is at a stunning venue which I frequently use in the East of Pretoria. Another was built for me by a local butcher making it easy for me to hang enough lamb for up to 80 people. Sides This might seem like overkill, but trust me when you are the one sitting on the receiving end of this dish, it's worth all the effort. During the roasting time, you have more than enough time to cook up a port lamb shank potjie, roughly 3 hours. From about the last hour of the boil, I add button mushrooms and some wild mushrooms, because it looks awesome and tastes great. Prepare shoestring fries in a deep fryer, and allow to rest. Add a herbed butter and when close to serving time pop them into an oven for a final hot grill to get them nice and crispy. I prepare crunchy baby carrots and sauté them with butter, orange, and cardamon. Plating When the lamb is ready, start cutting it off the bone with a sharp carving knife. Place on a platter, drizzle the last bit of fatty lamb sauce over your meat and toss. Now for your sauce; by this time you should be able to pull the shank bone right out of the meat in your potjie. Stir the pot and pour the delicious lamb potjie sauce over your lamb. Plate the herbed shoestring fries, with a side serving of cardamom and orange carrots. The idea is that the guests will dish the saucy lamb on top of the crispy shoestring fries, imagine the sauce drenching the fries and how they suck up all those delicious lamb flavours. There should be silence by this time as guests are enjoying your dish.

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