Maamalni - Suwarrow #5: Oh Maitre'd, our reservation for 4 please

On our way back from the coral gardens we dinghied over to Williwaw for a quick chat. You may recall Eric and Graznye are from France and both are doctors who had previously reviewed and attended to my finger. We went by to say hello, which evolved into an invitation for dinner aboard MaaMa to help improve Franco-American relationship. They happily accepted and cocktails were scheduled for 6. A little later in the day, the 3 amigos of Onelife, a lovely Amel Supermaramu from Italy came by to invite us for Pastis that evening. Well, never wanting to turn down an invitation for cocktails we suggested that they bring the Pastis to MaaMa and join us, and the French for dinner - this was to be a really international evening. All of a sudden the party for dinner grew to 9 and it was no longer possible to do a sit down at the table so we would just have to make do with an informal gathering around the cockpit. The planned dinner was butter-flied leg of lamb ala Maamalni, curried rice and salad.

MaaMa's Little Lamb is quite easy to replicate - and we are well known for great lamb. First procure a leg of lamb, which is more easily done at the supermarket versus the farm where they are hard to catch. Next butterfly the leg. Now "butterfly" is a term that scares off most people. It's a Julie Child term that simply refers to removing the flesh from the bone - using a small paring knife, just cut it away from the bone - it may not be pretty but it's not difficult. Having said that, lay the
meat on a cutting board. The meat when laid down will have high and low spots so you want to 'equalize' the surface by putting some vertical albeit shallow cuts in the high sections which you 'push to the side' to get the meat laid down and a more consistent thickness. Then you take slivered garlic and push into the meat in all sorts of locations - the more garlic the better. Next, sprinkle liberally salt and cracked black pepper followed by a dusting of garlic salt, cumin, curry and finish with a toss or two of cinnamon. Rub the spices into the flesh. Flip and repeat the spices and rubbing on the underside. Cover and let stand at room temperature for 2 to 4 hours. Grilling. The lamb is best done on a barbeque but it can be quickly seared on the stove and finished in the oven. Remember that lamb cooks very fast. Why I don't know, it just does. Heat the barbeque to a medium high heat, place the beast on the grill. Timing is based on your grill, usually ours (when in the propane versus butane mode) will take about 10 minutes per side whereupon we remove the beast to a platter, cover with foil and let stand for another 20 to 30 minutes where the cooking process continues par excellence. For lamb, par excellence means grilled on the outside and pink on the inside, never grey. Do not overcook! Remember, remember, and remember the lamb will continue to cook with its residual heat. Again, don't overcook!

As our luck would have it, the boys from Rome came aboard with their aperitif and their dead fish caught that day which they insisted had to be cook for dinner too. Once the lamb was removed from the grill and finishing under the tent, the fish was cleaned and placed upon the grill and was served 45 minutes later. Dinner conversation was conducted in four languages (American, English, French and Italian) but the language of eating and drinking is universal and a good time was had by all.