BanditsSome explanation...One of the undisputed classics of Greek cuisine, kleftiko is a special-occasion dish which showcases Hellenic cooking at its simple best. It demands no fancy ingredients or tricky techniques, just good raw materials … and a good deal of patience. Said to be named after sheep-rustling bandits known as the
klephts, who would cook their ill-gotten gains in underground pits to avoid detection, the success of the dish depends on long, slow roasting until the meat fairly falls off the bone. That’s handy, no doubt, when your knives were all engaged in more nefarious activity.