Cordero a la Pastora

Cordero a la Pastora is Aragonese, and it belongs to the sheep country: lamb cut small, potatoes to stretch it, garlic and herbs, then that old shepherd's trick of milk with a little vinegar. It sounds odd until you eat it. The milk softens the lamb's edge, the vinegar keeps the sauce awake, and the potatoes take in both.

The method that decides it is the heat after the milk goes in. Keep it low and steady. If you boil it hard, the milk breaks harshly and the lamb tightens; if you let it barely murmur, the sauce turns mild and grainy in the good way, like country food that knows exactly what it is. This is cocina de cuchara, spoon food, and it wants patience more than cleverness.

Use young lamb if you can, ternasco de Aragon if the market is kind to you. Far from Aragon, shoulder or neck of young lamb is the honest substitute; it will need a little longer than small ternasco pieces, but it gives you the same tender, giving meat. No hace falta haber pisado Espana. Cut evenly, season properly, and don't rush the pot.

In the Margin beside this one I keep the same warning every time: add the vinegar to the milk before it goes in, then lower the heat. That is the little hinge. Siempre sale, si lo sigues, it turns out if you follow it.