Antikristo—or ofto, as it's also called—is one of the most ancient and elemental ways to cook meat. It's a method born from the mountains of Crete, where shepherds would prepare lamb not with marinades or spices, but with fire, salt, and time.

When the herders wanted to roast meat, they would slaughter a young, fatty lamb and cut it into thick pieces, called goulidia. The meat was then salted generously with bourbadalatsos, the coarse local salt, and left to absorb the flavour. Each piece was skewered onto long wooden sticks.

Then came the fire. A pit was dug in the ground, large stones were placed around it, and a strong fire was lit in the centre. The skewers were balanced across the stones, positioned to face the flames directly but without touching them—hence the name antikristo, meaning “opposite.”

The cooking takes patience. The fire must stay steady—not too fierce, not too low—and the meat roasts slowly for up to two hours. Once it's browned on one side, the skewers are turned to finish on the other. That’s it. No basting, no flipping back and forth. Just pure lamb, salt, fire and air.

Ingredients:

• A fatty, one-year-old lamb (preferably the front part with the ribs), cut into four thick pieces

• Coarse salt

Method:

Light the fire. Salt the meat well on both sides and let it absorb the salt. Skewer each piece on a sharp wooden stick or spit.

Secure the skewers opposite the fire, at a distance of 80 cm to 1 metre, depending on wind direction. Maintain a medium flame—neither blazing nor dying out.

Let the meat cook without moving the skewers for about 1.5 to 2 hours. Once golden on one side, rotate them to finish the other.

This is cooking stripped down to its essence, and the flavour speaks for itself.

Local Cretan terms:

• Bourbadalatsos: coarse salt

• Goulidia: meat pieces

Recipe shared by Lena Igoumenaki, President of the Cretan Cuisine Festival Association.