Algeria – Lham Lahlou (Sweet Lamb cooked with Sous-Vide)

by Y Shomwi

Algeria is a country bordered by the Mediterranean Sea, Morocco and Western Sahara and it’s found in the northern Africa. The cuisine Lham Lahlou (meaning sweet meat, Lham-meat and Lahlou-sweet) is a combination of lamb meat stewed in a sweet syrup with fruit and spices.

Lham Lahlou is prepared normally in Ramadan period, as Algerians are Arabs (most of her inhabitants) this cuisine serves the best. I recommend to try it by yourself and enjoy the epic.

There are many styles, kinds and procedures of preparing this cuisine.

Some do prefer direct cooking for frying the recipes, boiling meat a half ready and serve it over while others prepare the full recipe for meat and add fruits at the end of all procedures.

Sugar is added along the process to enhance sweetness of the cuisine.

Good thing about Lham Lahlou, is that each of these different preparation methods must meet the exact taste of sweetness as the remarkable point for the cuisine identification.

During Ramadan, all Muslims are required to fast, therefore Lham Lahlou takes a big role to keep glucose and protein level at optimal as sugar provide energy in the body while fasting uses body energy at large.

Welcome to this preparation of Lham Lahlou cuisine by Sous-Vide method.

Things to prepare

  • 1/2 kg of lamb meat
  • 1 apple
  • 2 pears
  • 2 teaspoons of clarified butter
  • Cinnamon stick
  • Star anise
  • 1 teaspoon slivered almonds
  • 1 bulb onion
  • salt
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 2 teaspoons of golden raisins
  • 1/4 cup of dried plums
  • 1/4 cup of dried apricots
  • 1 teaspoon of alcohol-based orange blossom.
  • 4 teaspoons of water-based orange blossom.

Cooking steps

  • Wash and peel pears and apple, cut into four-six equal parts.
  • Cooking using sous-vide, put in the bag using vacuum chamber sealer, pears and apple pieces, sugar, anise, both alcohol-based orange blossom water and water-based orange blossom, at 85°C for 30 minutes less.
  • Prepare lamb meat and cut into small pieces (with one favor), marinate with salt. Heat up butter into a pan and mix over with meat until brown.
  • Remove meat from the pan into a clean plate, using butter remains, lower heat and chop onions into the butter remains. Add 1/4 cup of water and stir well.
  • Boil for about 25 minutes until all water dried, keep stir so that onions wont burn. Observe brownish color from onions.
  • Take the sous-vide from heat and allow to cool. (cold water may be used)
  • Take the fruits, meat, silvered almonds, plums and apricots, raisins and cinnamon stick and pack both into a bag sous-vide using water displacement method, cook for about 24 hours less at 58°C. This is with better results as considering a whole day fast for Ramadan.
  • Once done, filter the soup and boil it to the heavy soup. Pour the soup on top of the serve plate.

This is among the best nutritional and delicious cuisines in Algeria

Lham Lahlou
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