Michel Kalifa is one of the few butchers in France who go through the laborious process of removing the many veins in a leg of lamb, a process that is integral to koshering. Because of the difficulties in koshering a leg of lamb, most people will use the shoulder, which he loves as well. Glancing lovingly at his wife, he said, “A thigh of a woman is as nimble and light as a shoulder of lamb.” Here is an old Jewish Provençal recipe for a shoulder of lamb. Make it, as Michel Kalifa would, with a caress of garlic.
If you’d like to make the dish in advance, refrigerate the lamb in the sauce overnight. Remove the fat that accumulates from the top, carve the lamb when cool, return the sliced lamb to the pot with the sauce, and simmer until warm, surrounded with the olives and vegetables.
