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1
Combine the olive oil, crushed garlic, rosemary leaves, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish. Turn the chops in the marinade, ensuring full coverage, and leave at room temperature for 30–60 minutes. The marinade should coat each chop lightly; it is seasoning, not pickling. Done when the meat is no longer fridge-cold and carries a faint scent of rosemary.
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2
Build a wood or charcoal fire and bring it to blazing heat, the grate positioned close to the coals. A correctly heated grill is identifiable by the point at which a hand held 10 cm above the grate cannot remain there for more than two seconds. Throw the reserved rosemary sprigs onto the coals just before grilling.
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3
Lift the chops from the marinade and pat each one dry with kitchen paper. Lay them flat on the grate. This is where the dish lives or dies: the grill must be blazingly hot, the chops must be dry, and they must not be moved until a true char has formed — 2–3 minutes per side, developing a blackened, crackling exterior while the thin meat remains pink at the bone. Turn once only. Done when the crust is visibly charred and the meat yields very slightly under a fingertip — firm at the edges, giving at the centre.
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4
Transfer immediately to a wooden board. Squeeze lemon over the chops and serve at once, with the lemon halves alongside. The chops are eaten with the fingers, held by the bone, while still too hot to handle comfortably. They must not be allowed to cool.