Last night, I whipped up an experimental marinade for a barbecue which I attended today. It went over so well that I had to buy more lamb for the barbecue that I will be attending tomorrow.

I used blade-cut lamb shoulder chops, but really, any lamb will do. (I love lamb, and will eat it any way I can.) There’s not much of a recipe to this, because I kind of made it up as I went along, but here is a rough approximation of the very simple marinade.

• 1 part exra virgin olive oil
• 3 parts white rice vinegar
• Lapsang Souchong (smoked) black tea
• Shallots and Garlic

Steep the Lapsang Souchong in the white rice vinegar until it takes on a nice, light caramel colour. Pour the olive oil over the lamb chops, then add enough seasoned vinegar to cover. Slice the shallots and garlic paper-thin and layer them on top of the chops. Let the lamb marinate for at least 10-12 hours.

Grill to your liking, unless you like your meat medium or well. Rare or medium rare are the only ways to do lamb, you heathen. (In all honesty, I had a bit too much wine in me and forgot to watch the grill, so they turned out medium anyway. Everyone said the marinade more than made up for that, though.)