Arrosticini

How to make it

1. Cut the lamb into cubes about 1 cm on each side, leaving the fat as part of each cube rather than trimming it away. Aim for roughly one in five cubes to be clearly marbled with fat or to have a fat edge attached. The fat melts over the embers and keeps the small pieces tender — a completely lean skewer will turn out dry. ⏱ 25 min
   Chef's tip Chill the meat until firm, almost stiff at the edges, before cutting — soft lamb smears under the knife and the cubes come out ragged. Ragged cubes catch fire-side heat unevenly and cook at different rates on the same skewer.
2. Thread the meat cubes tightly onto the skewers, about 20-30 g per skewer, mixing the fatty cubes evenly among the lean ones. Keep the bottom 5-6 cm of each skewer completely free of meat — the bare end sits outside the embers and is used to turn the skewer. Lay the finished skewers on a platter. Don't salt them yet. ⏱ 20 min
   Chef's tip Push the cubes right up against each other so they touch. Only the outside of the skewer is exposed to the heat while the meat inside holds its juices; spaced out, the pieces dry from every side.
3. Light the charcoal and let it burn down until the flames are gone and the coals glow evenly orange beneath a layer of gray ash. Spread the embers into a narrow, dense bed so the skewers can lie right over the heat. ⏱ 30 min · passive
   Chef's tip The gray ash layer is the cue — flames or black-edged coals mean the fire is still off. Coals that glow orange under ash give steady radiant heat instead of licking flame, which would char the cubes before the fat has time to melt out.
4. Stir the olive oil, white wine vinegar, and the 0.5 tsp salt together in a small bowl until the salt has dissolved and the mixture is slightly cloudy.
5. Grill the skewers in batches close over the embers, with the bare ends hanging over the edge. Turn them often, every 30 seconds to a minute, so the fat renders out without dripping down and flaring up. They're done when the outside is lightly browned with a few dark edges and the meat is cooked through with no pink in the middle. ⏱ 20 min–30 min
   Chef's tip Turning every 30-60 seconds keeps any one face from sitting long enough for melted fat to pool and drip. Listen for the sizzle: when it sharpens into a hiss and a flame licks up, lift the skewers aside for a moment rather than moving the coals.
6. Dip the rosemary sprig into the oil-vinegar mixture and brush the freshly grilled skewers with it while they're still piping hot. Then sprinkle salt directly onto the meat. The salt goes on only now, because it draws juice out of the small cubes if left on the raw meat.
7. Toast the bread slices directly on the grate over the same embers until they have dark grill marks and are crisp at the edges but still soft in the middle. Drizzle them with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt while they're hot, so the oil soaks in.
8. Pile the hot skewers high on a flat platter, with the bare ends all pointing the same way, and set the toasted bread alongside on a board. The dish is eaten right away and with your fingers: you take one skewer at a time, pull the meat off directly with your teeth, and take a bite of bread alongside, while the rest stay warm in the pile.