Lamb

Tender chunks of lamb served kebab-style are paired with a traditional Mediterranean-inspired salad in this simple grilled dish.

He may be executive chef at London's luxe Conservatory at The Lanesborough, but Paul Gayler knows a thing or two about American cuisine, too. In The Gourmet Burger, he rethinks the barbecue classic using premium and international ingredients. Here, he adds mildly spicy North African flavors.

Inspired by Britain's classic drink — lager topped with stout — the sauce is a natural for lamb. Taste it and add more honey to offset any bitterness and get just the balance you want.

Lamb shoulder is meltingly tender here, and a natural partner for earthy-sweet artichokes.

This would be a hot contender for South Africa's national dish! The recipe was selected for an international recipe book published in 1951 by the United Nations Organisation. Bobotie is a Cape-Malay creation, and they spice it up even more with cumin, coriander and cloves. A similar dish was known in Europe in the middle ages after the Crusaders had brought turmeric from the East. When our first Dutch settlers arrived, Holland was largely influenced by Italian cooks, and a favorite dish was a hashed meat backed with curried sauce, spiked with red pepper and 'sweetened with blanched almonds.' There are many local variations, but the idea is that the mince should be tender and creamy in texture, which means long, slow cooking. Early cooks added a little tamarind water; lemon rind and juice is a more modern adaptation.

(Chenjeh kabab) Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Najmieh Batmanglij's book A Taste of Persia. Batmanglij also shared some helpful cooking tips exclusively with Epicurious, which we've added at the bottom of the page. To read more about Batmanglij and Persian cuisine, click here. Traditionally, pieces of sheep tail-fat are threaded between the pieces of the meat to add flavor and keep the meat moist. You can substitute pieces of smoked bacon cut into 2-inch pieces for a similar effect.

One fall afternoon, my sons and I decided to tailgate out at Randall's Island. This is a unique tailgating experience. Randall's is one of two islands off Manhattan (Ward's Island is the other) devoted to ball fields of all kinds. I cooked this lamb at one of the grills the city provides there, and we ate on an adjacent picnic table overlooking the East River. We then wandered around the more than two dozen fields, watching intensely played games of soccer, baseball, cricket, flag football, and the tail end of a rugby match. Only in New York.

(Lamb with Saffron, Sardinian Style) Editor's note: The recipe and introductory text below are excerpted from Giuliano Bugialli's book Foods of Sicily & Sardinia. We've also added some helpful tips of our own, which appear at the bottom of the page.

MAGIRITSA Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Aglaia Kremezi's book The Foods of Greece. To read more about Kremezi and Greek Easter, click here. Magiritsa is made with the parts of the lamb not used for the spit-roasted Easter lamb, which is usually very small (about 20 pounds). In the classic recipe, all the innards — heart, lungs, and so forth — go into the pot, but they do not really contribute to the taste. The flavor of the stock comes from the boiled head and neck, and the soup gets its distinctive taste from scallions, fresh dill, and the egg-and-lemon mixture. There are lots of different magiritsa recipes. A friend described to me the one her family prepared in Halki, a small island that is part of the Dodecanese. In her family's version, no innards were used because, in Halki as in all the Dodecanese, they do not roast the lamb on the spit but instead stuff it with rice and the innards. So in Halki's magiritsa, many lambs' heads were boiled to make a very tasty stock, to which egg and lemon sauce is added at the end. The heads were not boned, but as they cooked for many hours, even their bones became soft. Each member of the family got one head and ate it with the broth. No scallions or dill were added to the magiritsa. My recipe for Easter soup was given to me by my cousin's wife, Katy Kremezi, whose mother came from Smyrna (Izmir) in Asia Minor.

ARNI GEMISTO ME HORTA KE FETA Editor's note: This recipe is excerpted from Aglaia Kremezi's book The Foods of the Greek Islands. To read more about Kremezi and Greek Easter, click here. This recipe comes from Andros, and it is one of the most delicious ways to cook a whole Easter spring lamb or kid. The various spring wild greens on the island, seasoned with fennel, mint and other aromatic herbs, together with the local slightly sour fresh cheese, are used to make the stuffing. In my version, instead of a whole tiny lamb, I use a shortened leg of lamb (shank half) partly boned, to make room for the stuffing. The result is quite different but equally enticing. Serve with Roasted Potatoes with Garlic, Lemon, and Oregano.

If you have to buy more than the amount of ground lamb needed for this recipe, use the leftover meat to make a juicy lamb burger a day or two later.

This dish features cabbage and cauliflower prepared simply, to preserve the purity of their flavors. The dates bring out the inherent sweetness of both vegetables perfectly. Make the purées first, then roast the cabbage and cook the chops.

Didn't qualify for the Olympic team? Don't sweat it! You can still eat like you're in Athens. This dish, created by Jim Botsacos, executive chef at New York City's Molyvos restaurant, is a winner. It offers vitamins C and B6 and folate. Plus, you'll set the record for quickest grilling time. For dessert, we suggest a victory lap around the picnic table.

Kebabs are not only fun to eat, they also save time: It takes less than 10 minutes for these lamb cubes to cook up medium-rare. The marinade, made with fresh thyme and rosemary, infuses both the meat and the vegetables with south-of-France flavor.

Though not quite as tender, lamb shoulder chops have deeper flavor than rib chops and won't break the bank.

Ask your butcher to butterfly the leg of lamb for you.

What to drink: A red Rhône wine like Châteauneuf-du-Pape or Gigondas, with bold fruit flavors and earthy notes.

Katy Hees of Santa Fe, New Mexico, writes: "Eating local, fresh, organic food is important to me. Lamb is one of my favorite meats, so I'm always trying to think of new ways to prepare it." Here, lamb's classic partner — mint — is incorporated into the burger.

No one is going to ask "Where's the beef?" when confronted with this chili. Slowly cooking the meat with lard, peppers, and spices creates a wonderfully complex sauce that's topped off with tender corn-flavored dumplings.