A French: gigot bitume (asphalt leg of lamb) is a leg of lamb prepared by wrapping the meat in kraft paper and placing it in a bath of hot asphalt. This preparation method is traditionally used in France to celebrate the completion of the structural portion of construction projects or public works.[1] [2] [3]
A recipe for the dish, French: gigot cuit dans le goudron, appears in the 1900 cookbook French: La Vraie cuisine pratique: Les potages, les poissons, le bœuf, le veau, l'agneau, le mouton, le porc, la volaille, le gibier ("True Practical Cuisine: Soups, Fish, Beef, Veal, Lamb, Mutton, Pork, Poultry, Game")
Usage of this cooking method by asphalt workers, in particular, has existed since the end of the 19th century.
In Val-de-Travers in western Switzerland, a similar tradition exists where a ham is cooked in asphalt (Jambon cuit dans l’asphalte).[4]