This is the way I like to roast stew pork or lamb. This dish is both a roast and a stew since the meat roasts in the oven. This helps the crust develop a caramelised crust and flavour. It is also a stew because most of the meat cooks submerged in abundant beer and coriander in order to infuse it with flavour and help it tenderise. This dish is delicious and it's one of the most requested recipes I make. The flavours are intense, sharp and alluring. This dish is likely to be different to any other roast you've ever had unless you hail from Peru or elsewhere in Latin America where the beer and coriander combination is commonly used in cooking. I often make this dish using lamb and the flavours are stellar with it. Make sure you don't overcook this dish, the meat should remain moist, and in the case of lamb, it should remain pink inside. The sweet potatoes are roasted in a separate dish until they caramelise and become very sweet.

Ingredients for roasted sweet potatoes:

Sweet potatoes: 1.5 kilos, peeled and cut into 4 cm chunks

Good quality olive oil: 1/4 cup or to taste.

Salt and pepper: to taste.

Ingredients for the meat roast:

Bone-in Leg of Pork or Lamb : 2.5 kilos or thereabouts

Salt and pepper: to taste

Garlic: 1 head, coarsely chopped

White vinegar: 1/4 cup

Lemon juice: 1/4 cup

Ground cumin: 2 tablespoons

Ground coriander: 2 tablespoons

Sweet paprika: 2 tablespoons

Smoked paprika: 2 teaspoons

Dried chilli flakes: 2 teaspoons or to taste

Fresh coriander: 2 large bunches, chopped coarsely

Beer: One 750 ml bottle, preferably a good quality pale ale

Preparation

Start in the morning in time for lunch. Sprinkle meat with salt and pepper, pour vinegar and lemon juice and massage garlic into the meat. Place leg on roasting pan, cover with foil and refrigerate for a few hours and remove from fridge about 3 hours before the meal.

Preheat oven to 220 C.

Coat sweet potatoes in oil, salt and pepper and place on a roasting dish.

Using a blender, puree the fresh coriander in 2 cups of beer until coriander is almost completely incorporated into the beer. A few chunky bits won't matter at all, in fact, I like this mix with a bit of texture.

Coat the meat with the ground cumin, coriander, both paprikas and chilli flakes. Pour blended fresh coriander and the rest of the beer. Massage the leg lightly, cover with foil and place dish in oven on the upper level with the sweet potatoes on the rack below.

After 30 minutes turn the heat down to 180 C and remove foil from the meat.

Roast should be ready after about an hour from turning down the heat, this depends on the size of your roast and your oven temperature. To be sure, use an instant read digital thermometer. Lamb should be ready (at medium doneness) when internal temperature reads 65 C to 70 C. For pork, an internal temperature of 75 C is ideal. Remember, you do not want to eat dry meat. Not after all this work. Remember to keep an eye on the potatoes, they should be turned over in order to allow them to develop a nice crust all over. They will most likely be ready before the meat. How can you tell? You will see little beads of caramel ooze out of the potatoes and patches of dark caramelised spots developing.

Remove meat from oven. Return sweet potatoes to the oven in the meantime (with the heat off) and pour off the beer mixture into a skillet and reduce until you are left with a cup or so of thickish sauce. Let the meat rest for 20 minutes. Slice and serve alongside the roasted sweet potatoes and the reduced sauce.