Cutturidd — Basilicatan Lamb Stew

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg young lamb, bone-in pieces (shoulder and/or neck), from an animal 4–8 months old; cut into large pieces on the bone
• 3 tbsp olive oil or lard
• 250 ml dry white wine, plain and neutral, enough to half-submerge the lamb
• 6 garlic cloves, unpeeled, whole
• 3 fresh rosemary sprigs
• 3 bay leaves, fresh or dried
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, added at the end of braising only
• 1 loaf rough country bread, for serving alongside; the broth is meant to be soaked with it

Method

1. 1
   Set a clay pot (tiella di terracotta) or heavy casserole over medium-low heat and warm the olive oil or lard. Add the lamb pieces in a single layer and colour them lightly on all sides — just enough for a faint golden tinge, not a deep Maillard crust. The surface of the meat should be pale gold and barely sealed; this is where the dish's character is established.
2. 2
   Pour in the dry white wine. It should come to approximately halfway up the lamb pieces — add a little water if the pot is wide. Tuck in the whole unpeeled garlic cloves, the rosemary sprigs, the bay leaves, and the dried oregano. Do not add tomato. This is where the dish lives or dies: no tomato, no assertive seasoning, no strong additions of any kind — the herbs and the wine are the entire flavour architecture, and adding anything more dismantles the preparation entirely.
3. 3
   Cover the pot and reduce the heat to the barest possible simmer. Braise for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours. The liquid must never boil — a rolling boil clouds the broth and toughens the lamb. Listen for a very quiet, occasional murmur only.
4. 4
   The stew is ready when the lamb yields without resistance to a fork or the back of a spoon and is beginning to pull from the bone. The broth should be pale golden and slightly unctuous — the lamb's gelatin gives it a faint body without opacity.
5. 5
   Season with fine sea salt now, and only now. Taste the broth: it should be herb-scented, gently winey, and clean on the palate — restrained rather than bold. Correct the salt only. Serve directly from the clay pot, with rough country bread alongside.