Lamb’s tails with monkeygland sauce

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“My mom used to make a sauce that went perfectly with everything it smothered, but we never had a name for it. It was always just ‘that sweet, slightly tangy, kinda fruity brown sauce’. Years later, on the set of a TASTE shoot, we were preparing a sauce for a burger when I realised we’d just recreated my mom’s sauce – and that it had a name: monkeygland sauce. Today it’s my job to prepare it for the family, and it really does make absolutely anything taste amazing.”

Ingredients

For the monkeygland sauce:
3 T extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 bay leaves
sea salt, to taste
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
2 T tomato paste
1 t cayenne pepper
½ cup Mrs Ball’s Original Chutney
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
½ cup brown vinegar
50 g brown sugar
½ cup water
freshly ground black pepper
600 g Woolworths free-range salt and black pepper lamb’s tails
lemon wedges, for serving

Cooking Instructions

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the onion and bay leaves, and just enough salt to help the onions soften. Once soft and lightly browned, add the garlic and tomatoes, cooking until the garlic becomes fragrant, then add the tomato paste, cayenne pepper, chutney, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, sugar and water. Season lightly with more salt and black pepper. Simmer slowly to reduce slightly as the onions and tomato soften into the sauce – about 15 minutes. The sauce should thicken slightly but still retain some of its chunkiness. You can store it in the fridge in a sterilised jar with a tight-fitting lid – or use it immediately for these amazing lamb’s tails.

2. Remove the lamb’s tails from the fridge an hour before braaiing to help the fat render over the coals. Place on a braai grid over medium coals and allow the fat to render slowly, dripping over the coals to add a smoky flavour to the meat. After turning every few minutes, the lamb should begin to char and develop a slight crust. This is when you can begin basting the tails with the monkeygland sauce. Turn and baste them often to prevent them from burning and sticking to the grid.

3. Once well glazed, finish with a squeeze of lemon, then transfer to a serving platter and serve with extra monkeygland sauce and more lemon wedges.

Photograph: Jan Ras
Production: Emma Nkunzana
Recipes: Clement Pedro

Find more braai recipes here.