Cordero lechal: Castilian roast milk-fed lamb

Ingredients

• 1 (6–8 kg) milk-fed lamb (lechazo), whole or quartered, 3–5 weeks old, feeding on mother's milk exclusively; Churra breed (lechazo churro DOP) preferred
• 2 tsp fine sea salt, to season the meat simply
• 250 ml water, added to the cazuela before roasting
• 1 branch of fresh herbs, laid over or alongside the meat in the dish

Method

1. 1
   Heat a wood-fired stone oven to 160 °C. Season the milk-fed lamb on all sides with fine sea salt only — the delicacy of the milk-white meat is easily overwhelmed by further seasoning. Lay a branch of herbs in the bottom of a clay cazuela. Place the lamb on top, pour 250 ml of water into the dish, and set in the oven.
2. 2
   Roast at 160 °C for 2 hours without rushing. This low-heat phase renders the cream-coloured fat slowly and is essential to the texture of the finished dish. The meat is done when it is pale rather than pink — milk-white within — and yields completely to light pressure; a fork pressed against the flesh should meet no resistance. This is where the dish lives or dies: an older animal or a shortened low-heat phase produces a different flavour profile entirely.
3. 3
   Raise the oven to 220 °C. Return the cazuela and roast for a further 15–20 minutes until the skin blisters and crisps to a thin, golden crackling. The surface should be dry to the touch, taut, and visibly blistered.
4. 4
   Remove the cazuela from the oven and rest the lamb in the dish for 15 minutes. The clay retains heat and continues to cook the meat gently. The cooking juices pooled in the dish are the sauce; do not discard them.
5. 5
   Divide the lamb at table. The meat is sufficiently tender to be portioned with the edge of a plate — the lightest pressure separates it cleanly from the bone. Serve directly from the cazuela with the pan juices spooned over.