Caldereta de Cordero Extremeña

Caldereta — from caldera, cauldron — was the dish sheepherders cooked over an open fire on the dehesa, the oak-pasture grazing land of Extremadura and western Andalusia. The pounded liver-and-bread thickener is older than the New World pimentón that now defines it; pimentón joined the recipe sometime in the 17th century after La Vera began processing capsicums at scale. The dish is most associated with the Sierra de Gata and Las Hurdes shepherding villages.

Sierra de Gata shepherd's lamb stew named for the cauldron. The majado — pounded liver, fried bread, garlic, cumin — goes in only in the final 10 minutes off the boil; longer and the lecithin denatures, the starch over-gelatinizes, and the sauce thins out.

Spoon-tender lamb in a sauce the colour of brick, with the deep iron note of liver hidden in the background. The first taste reads as smoke and pepper from pimentón; the second reveals the cumin and vinegar in the majado. Bread comes with the dish, not under it — you tear pieces and sweep the bowl. If the sauce is thin, the majado was added too early and broke down; it should arrive in the last ten minutes only.

The majado does two jobs: liver lecithin emulsifies the rendered fat into the broth, and the fried bread starches thicken it — together they bind sauce that would otherwise separate into oil and stock. Add the paste too early and 90 minutes of simmer destroys both effects (lecithin denatures, starch over-gelatinizes and thins out). Stir it in only in the final 10 minutes, off the boil.