Asphalt lamb
 

Joking? No.
OT? Well, it's maybe not really a BBQ recipe, but it is outdoor, it is hot,
it takes quite a while to be cooked and there is smoke. Read on and let me
know ;-)

"Asphalt gigot " (Gigot = lamb or mutton leg in French) is an old festive
tradition of the French building industry, created by the waterproofing
contractors. When the waterproofing contractor finished the installation of
an asphalt roofing system over a concrete building roof, it is the end of
the structural works on that building and the whole project team celebrates.
For such, several "gigots" are cooked in hot melted asphalt. Yep, hot melted
asphalt.
Don't skip yet, see up to the end!

A single gigot should ideally be around 3.5 Kg.
1 gigot for 8 French guests (Should do for 6 guests in the USA)

Other ingredients:
Garlic
Pepper powder
Chilli powder
Olive oil
Salt
Mustard, hot French style, not sweet British style if possible.
A lot of aluminium foil
If available, aluminium foil backed with kraft style paper
A roofing contractor as asphalt boiler + asphalt + operator are required.

Preparation:
Mix salt, pepper, chilli in the Olive oil to your taste and baste the meat
with that mix.
Cut the meat to allow to insert 2 or 3 head of garlic in it.
Till now, easy.

"Packing":
To make sure that the meat will never get in contact with the hot asphalt,
wrap it with aluminium paper, making sure not to leave uncovered areas not
to tear the foil. Tie it up with very fine rope.
Repeat as required. The old timer in France put 4 layers of aluminium and
finish with the paper backed aluminium. If your prefferred roofing
contractor is not used to that, increase the number of layers till you feel
relax.
The last wrap is done with steel wire.

Asphalt:
Shall be well mixed and maintained at 230 Celsius minimum all along. That's
the job of the roofing contractor operator.

Cooking:
Put steel bars across the opened boiler, attach the steel wire to them, and
deep the "packs". Cooking time: 26 minutes per Kg.
When the meat is cooked, take it out and dip it into a bucket hot water.
Peel off the aluminium foil layers one by one, with special precaution for
the first 2 or 3 ones.
Cut and serve. Guaranteed, it is very nice. Each time I have got one, the
newbees were horrified, tasted it with all due reservations and are now
strong supporters :-)

There are no particular rules about the vegetables and wine going with that.
It is up to the organisers.

I don't have pics of the cooked meat, but I found few about the preparation
at http://www.pariscyber.com/gigot-bitume/index.php

Now, if one of you know a roofing contractor, please let me know if they are
also doing that in the States.
If not, launch the trend!
Cheers
Daniel