The Portuguese are famous for their use of bay leaves and Espetadas are a national favourite – in Madeira it’s a national  pastime.  Coarse salt, a few cloves of garlic, extra virgin olive oil andwooden bay skewers are the most important ingredients – once the loin has been cut into cubes, sprinkled with chopped garlic, coarse salt and coated with olive oil, only the bay branches have to be trimmed for skewers. The bay  is vital to the taste of these kebabs (for that is what they are) which is why this recipe is so perfect for those of us who don’t have access to bay branches.

Ingredients

• 1 kg lamb shoulder, cut into thick chunks – about 4 cm (you could also use beef fillet or pork shoulder), clean and dry – meat must not be wet and covered with blood – i.o.w. if the meat has been in the freezer, de-frost first and allow to dry inside the fridge before placing in the marinade
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh garlic, crushed and finely diced
• 20 fresh bay leaves*
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Slices of fresh lemon to serve (optional)

Method

• Soak you skewers in water if you are using wooden skewers.
• See to it that the fire is moderately hot – and place the rack about 8 cm from the surface.
• Make sure that the meat
• Cover the meat with salt, freshly ground black pepper, crushed diced garlic and the olive oil and allow them to rest for and about an hour.
• Skewer the meat alternately with bay leaves – if the leaves do happen to break, jam between the cubes of meat.
• Grill the meat for about 2 to 5 minutes per side, depending on how hot the fire is and how you like the meat done.
• Serve with crusty bread, slices of lemon and good chilled wine.
• It’s difficult to put the skewer through the dried leaves because the tend to crumble