The proprietor told me they have a fair base of customers who’d previously lived in Western EU and recognize the brands. The other end of the same plaza has another international store that’s primarily central and Eastern EU focused, with stuff from PL, UA, RU. Plus loose tea from Turkey that I use to make my kombucha a lot more cheaply than going to a tea shop for loose/bulk tea.
Thanks, I think I’d sort of heard of that store but never looked into it. There’s one about 30 miles away.
Go through your herbs and spices and see what you’d want to replace. They have varying sizes, and sniff jars so you can figure out if you like the blend or not.
The issue with heavier spicing in the prep is that for a loin, it won’t penetrate the meat like a marinade would for a whole leg of lamb.
I’d also want to make sure the spicing doesn’t taste “raw” in the end. You could brown the spice-coated outside at the outset or at the end, to safeguard against that.
The flavor profile from Indian whole raan (lamb leg / shoulder) would work nicely — Sikandari is the most famous, but there are others.
Much simpler and also delicious, a mustard and herb crust. A friend made this with racks last thanksgiving, and it was fabulous. Lots of mustard, generous garlic, herbs of your choice (swap rosemary for thyme or HDP), and optional fresh breadcrumbs (roasted) or panko.
ETA: it just struck me that you can get a stronger marinade or spices better distributed in a loin by butterflying it & then rolling & tying it up.
My aunt does this with a beef roast at Christmas (garlic, parsley, anchovies, etc) and it turns out pretty spectacular and really well flavored throughout. And it’s not as fussy as it sounds — I even did it once when she hurt her hand 
.
More ideas for seasoning on previous threads:
I’ve enjoyed this prep with various roasts. If I don’t have all the spices, I just use the ones I do have.
I’ve also used the spices used for Chinese cumin lamb kabobs or stir frys on roasts.
Thanks. As with the above recipe from the other meat seller above (Dartagnan), sumac is the only thing I’m lacking. I’ve read some suggestions for subs, but in the past, in general, I’ve not found such suggestions to be very close. So maybe I’ll just skip as you mentioned doing.
Edit… Speaking of both recipes calling for sumac, after reviewing them, I think someone is looking over someone else’s shoulder, most likely the meat seller (column 2) watching their competitor (who did give credit to Y.O. - column 1). The difference in amounts can mainly be attributed to Y.O. being for a full leg vs. Dartagnan’s being for a loin roast.
| Column 1 | Column 2 |
|---|---|
| 2 teaspoons black peppercorns | 1 teaspoon black peppercorns |
| 5 cloves | 2 whole cloves |
| 1⁄2 teaspoon cardamom pods | ¼ teaspoon whole cardamom |
| 1⁄4 teaspoon fenugreek seeds | (no fenugreek seed) |
| 1 teaspoon fennel seeds | ½ teaspoon fennel seed |
| 1 tablespoon cumin seeds | ½ teaspoon cumin seed |
| 1 star anise | ½ star anise |
| 1⁄2 cinnamon stick | 1-inch piece cinnamon stick |
| 1 tablespoon grated nutmeg | 1 teaspoon nutmeg |
| 1⁄4 teaspoon ground ginger | ¼ teaspoon ground ginger |
| 1 tablespoon sweet paprika | 1 teaspoon sweet paprika |
| 1 tablespoon dried sumac | 1 teaspoon dried sumac |
| 3⁄4 tablespoon kosher salt | salt to taste |
| 1 3-inch piece of fresh ginger | (ground but not fresh ginger) |
| 3 garlic cloves | 2 cloves garlic, |
| 3⁄4 cup chopped cilantro | ¼ cup cilantro |
| 4 Tbs lemon juice | 2 Tbs lemon juice |
| (no coriander) | ½ teaspoon coriander seed |
Squeeze of fresh lemon for the sumac .
There’s enough stuff that it won’t be missed.
Sumac is citrusy.
Substitute a combination of citrus zest and an earthy vinegar.
Before I bought a giant jar from a middle eastern store, I used to collect the little containers from lebanese or other middle eastern takeout. If you have a place nearby, you can ask just ask them for some.
Looking forward to seeing which of the many suggestions you end up using.
I love a good rub that flavors the outside of the meat well. If I want some deeper penetration >ahem< 
, I sometimes stab a roast with one of my large silver fork’s sharp prongs, and make a bit of an effort to rub it all in… but given your vast experience with roasting & smoking lamb, I’m sure you are well versed in seasoning your meat just right 
I did that with my Easter lamb. I had the olive oil, minced garlic, minced rosemary, s/p and lemon zest that was rubbed all over. BUT I also cut some slivers into the roast, and then shoved some of the oil/garlic rub into those slivers as well.
And even though I just had lamb a week or so ago, now I want a lamb tagine or a Shepherd’s Pie with some of the hunks of the roast I cut off and froze. Gah, I 
.
I’m a lover of all meats, but lamb & duck are way up there, fo sho 
Dijon/rosemary/garlic.
Scanning the spices, they’re components of baharat or garam masala or ras el hanout, and the rest is pretty standard for middle eastern / south asian meat preps (ginger, garlic, paprika / chilli powder.
So I don’t think it’s as much plagiarism as you might suspect 
— just cultural spice blend commonality.
I’ve done mustard/choose your herb or spice variation here crust many times. Had it first as a much younger Meekah while a dinner guest of really good cooks. I suspect Julia Child was in that mix somewhere.
Lamb tartare
Loin is such a delicate cut of meat that we dont do anything special with it in the cooking. Salt, pepper, a light touch of oil and that’s it. Make a nice sauce to go with it - pretty much anything that you’d make for loin chops is going to work. Mint sauce would be the classic in this house
Our S-I-L’s favorite lamb prep uses a Uyghur-inspired rub.
1T red chili flakes
1 T szechuan pepper corns
2 T cumin seed
1 t fennel seed
1 T kosher salt
1 T granulated garlic
2 T vegetable oil
Coarsely grind the chili flakes, szechuan pepper corns, cumin, and fennel. Add kosher salt, granulated garlic, and vegetable oil to make a paste. Slather on the lamb and refrigerate at least 1 hour, or up to overnight. Grill over hot coals, turning as necessary, to your desired level of doneness (but if you go past medium, you’re a philistine).
I usually do this with a leg, cubing the meat into 1" chunks and packing it onto skewers. It’s really good in some kind of flatbread topped with a yogurt-based sauce (yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, whatever…).
Mint chimichurri on lamb I have never tried; but that sounds like a perfect match.
Anyway you cut it/cook it, lamb is my FAVE!
