Tryence of the Lamb

 I’m thinking about trying lamb (I have never had any before). How should I have it? – Not a vegetarian; grew up in a beef-chicken-pork place with only the occasional shellfish and pasta sauce came from a jar.

Sheep were probably the first livestock to be domesticated as much for their milk and wool as meat. They arrived in the North America with the Spanish settlers. And they came to the US on the Mayflower (take that bluebloods). In colonial days, costal Massachusetts islands were cleared of predators and turned in to low labor sheep farms. Despite this, the US has never been a sheep-centric culture - there have been an estimated 61 million sheep grazed across in the US; the peak years were in the 1940s - the demand for wool was at its greatest during WWII. Since then it has been a slow steady decline for herds – over 60%. (Comparatively, Australia is currently home to 100 million sheep.)

As synthetic fibers have replaced wool, reducing herd sizes, lamb became more expensive. Coupled with the ascendance of milder, less-fatty, cheaper pork and inexpensive/lean chicken have translated to less mutton and lamb in the American diet. Oh and a generation of Americans who were only able to eat sheep during wartime rationing turned their back on it when other dietary choices became available. Currently vague fears about mad cow disease, anthrax (for real) and a constant theme in American Foodways; traditional foods are one of the first things sacrificed on the road to assimilation. (Lamb/mutton eating is a little warped since the British still love them some sheep and many of our accepted food customs are based on the supposed diet of the Edwardian gentry, but this strange bit of Anglophilia isn’t for me to untangle. 

If lamb consumption is low and falling, with US residents eating less than a pound per person annually, eating mutton isn’t even tracked. Little pieces of data indicate two notable exceptions in mutton eating – Middle Eastern and Latin American populations are still big consumers. Or at the opposite end of the spectrum and you are old school and like your martinis pink and your golf courses green - one survey of menus found steak houses are the most likely place to offer a mutton chop, you a real one not the retro-hipster facial hair kind.

Roasted leg with Gremolata is good, but that can be a little intense especially for a lamb novice, a lamvice. That being said, you might want to try any of these 3 ways to taste lamb:

1)    Shank; like Ossobuco only without the veal. A shank usually braised in red wine, served with white beans, polenta, risotto or lentils tastes good. Plus the meat is the sideshow in these preparations, you can pick and taste to get started. 

2)    Chop. Grilled or roasted a lamb chop is so very good. Aioli or pesto spooned on a warm chop is very good.

3)    Burger. Yes, a lamburger. Or even a sausage, both are familiar yet different, allowing you to be comfortable as you ease into your new food.

Other thoughts for your lamb adventure, lamb would be the more traditional meat in Massaman Curry. Many Indian foods feature lamb. A shoulder can be used in pot roast of pot-a-feu. Mexican Style BBQ lamb with cumin and garlic. Or if you like, ease into the situation with a gyro – half beef/half lamb all spices - it is a good way to get started. Oh and good for you for being adventurous and trying new things. 

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