Barbecued Lamb

Ingredients

• 1 lamb middle piece (bracelet)
• salt
• black pepper
• paprika
• very little dry mustard
• tabasco
• 1 cup water
• butter
• equal quantity to butter strong vinegar
• red pepper
• black pepper
• cucumber pickle
• bare dash onion juice

Instructions

1. Have the lamb middle piece split down the backbone with rib-ends neatly trimmed and ribs broken about midway but not quite through.
2. Wash the meat clean and wipe dry. Rub it well with salt, then prick in tiny gashes with a sharp-pointed knife. Rub in black pepper, paprika, a very little dry mustard, and dash lightly with tabasco.
3. Place a low rack in the bottom of a deep, narrow pan and set the meat upon it so that only the backbone and rib-ends touch the rack, forming a sort of Gothic arch. Maintain this position throughout cooking.
4. Pour a cupful of water underneath the rack (it must not touch the meat). Heat the oven very hot, but not scorching. Should it scorch in the least, turn another pan over the meat for the first hour of cooking.
5. Roast, adding more water as the first boils away. Do not baste the meat—the water is merely to keep it from getting too hard. Continue roasting until the fat is crisped and brown throughout and the lean is very tender.
6. While the meat cooks, prepare the sauce: Mix melted butter with an equal quantity of strong vinegar, boiling hot. Thicken with minced red and black pepper, minced cucumber pickle, and a bare dash of onion juice.
7. Take the cooked lamb up on a broad, hot dish. In serving, cut along the ribs so each portion includes the whole length of the ribs as well as part of the backbone. Serve with the hot sauce.