Americans don't eat lamb.....

[Peter B Wolf]

What about the wonderful "Kibbe nayyeh"

Middle Eastern Steak Tartare...............

[Pan]

I'm not sure I fully support the strong flavour idea. Lamb has a milder flavour than some cuts of beef.

which cuts of beef? i think it's safe to say that lamb has a "stronger" or at the very least "more gamey" flavor (and i think they're one in the same here) than just about any cut of beef popular in the US.

No dispute here. But if you've ever tried lamb denuded of fat, you might agree with me that it tastes a whole lot more like beef (e.g. very high-quality stew beef, though I couldn't isolate a cut for you) than lamb not denuded of fat.

[Jensen]

I'm not sure I fully support the strong flavour idea. Lamb has a milder flavour than some cuts of beef.

which cuts of beef? i think it's safe to say that lamb has a "stronger" or at the very least "more gamey" flavor (and i think they're one in the same here) than just about any cut of beef popular in the US.

I was thinking of the tougher cuts of beef -- short ribs, pot roast type stuff, even ground beef. I often cannot stand the smell of them but I've never smelled lamb that made me go 'ewww'.

I also don't think of lamb as gamey at all. Venison, moose, Dahl sheep, elk, etc. ... those can taste gamey to me. Lamb? no way.

[KNorthrup]

I eat lamb at least once a week. Primarily because I like gamey. Also to help the market share and encourage the supermarket to keep carrying it.

[Basilgirl]

I have thought for years and still do that lamb tastes like wet sweaters.

Maybe my momma just didn't cook it right.

[Suzanne F]

Is your momma Mongolian?

(A reference to Ellen Shapiro's truly amazing travel saga, which I'm too lazy to link to right now)

[Basilgirl]

Is your momma Mongolian? 

(A reference to Ellen Shapiro's truly amazing travel saga, which I'm too lazy to link to right now)

Um, no...Irish. Don't the Irish know how to cook lamb?

[tommy]

my mother-in-law grew up around, um, lambs, and doesn't eat stronger tasting lamb because it smells like the animal, which apparently doesn't smell all that good. she'll eat milder lamb, though.

[hannnah]

Um, no...Irish. Don't the Irish know how to cook lamb?

Depends. My M-I-L is Irish, and while she does cook a lovely leg of lamb, she only does it for special occasions (ie when we visit) because she absolutely despises the smell of it cooking.

Ironically, my husband, who is really very fond of eating lamb, has mentioned that he's not wild about the smell of cooking lamb either. I tend to agree with the folks who've said it's the fat - when we've done lamb chops or smaller pieces, the smell hasn't been an issue.

[pleiades]

I think all the negative responses here tell the tale. It simply is a more polarizing subject than, say, hamburgers or filet mignon.

That said, it is the prefered red meat here in my house too. What prevents us from eating more of it is simply cost. Good lamb is expensive, at least around here. Cut for cut, pound for pound, I have to pay a premium for it over similar quality beef. The result is that we don't eat much of either, simply as a budgetary matter. But it's hard to beat grilled American lamb chops, a lamb roast slathered in tapenade before cooking, a good shank, or even a lamburger topped with Maytag blue.

[Al_Dente]

or even a lamburger topped with Maytag blue.

Note to self: must try this...

Thanks for the idea!

[Pan]

What's Maytag blue?

[Suzanne F]

Blue cheese made in Iowa by the same folks who make appliances.

It is a gorgeous cheese, on a par with the best of the Europeans (ducks for cover) In any case, one of the best North American blues.

[Pan]

Blue cheese made in Iowa by the same folks who make appliances. 

It is a gorgeous cheese, on a par with the best of the Europeans (ducks for cover)  In any case, one of the best North American blues.

This really sounds like a big put-on. No kidding? Brought to you by the Maytag washing machine people? And it's good?

[pho]

You seriously weren't aware of Maytag blue, Pan? It is very real, and one of the best cheeses in the country.

[pleiades]

Fred Maytag II's Iowa dairy has been making this cheese since 1941. Those Maytags know how to eat and drink, you know.

Fritz Maytag rescued a defunct San Francisco brewery called Anchor in 1965, because he loved the local brew known as Steam.

[tommy]

Fritz Maytag rescued a defunct San Francisco brewery called Anchor in 1965, because he loved the local brew known as Steam.

oh yeah? the Anchor company by any chance?

[endless autumn]

I'm no agricultural expert, but I should think that lamb is unattractive to large-scale producers of meat in America because sheep are resistant to intensive farming. If there's not much lamb around, not many people can eat it.

Sheep need to be outdoors, eating grass or whatever plants are growing in the ground (not too much clover, though if I'm up on my Hardy). They can't be coralled and corn-fed, or kept in a barn/factory.

The harder lamb is to get hold of, the less likely it is to become a staple source of protein. People then reflect their prejudices about the product, never having tasted it - as Brits do about (to name the most obvious examples) snails or frogs.

Any argument about its taste (too strong, too gamey, too animal) or fluffy concerns for the little gambolling lambs is depressing in the extreme.l

[Busboy]

Blue cheese made in Iowa by the same folks who make appliances. 

Note that Iowa is also home to the Amana colonies -- religious commune-ish communities, that eventually gave birth to the other Iowa appliance empire.

[KNorthrup]

You seriously weren't aware of Maytag blue, Pan?  It is very real, and one of the best cheeses in the country.

One of the local cheese shops has switched to a different creamery(sorry, forgetting the name) because they say the longtime Maytag cheesemaker left for the new one and thus it's for all intents and purposes more authentically Maytag than what is now being sold under the Maytag name. Plus something about Maytag going more corporate and packaging in plastic and so on and the quality has slipped. Someone here probably knows the name of the new place. If not, I can call and ask.

[Suzanne F]

My stove is a Maytag, and it's not that great. But the cheese, and the beer -- THOSE are great! (Although I haven't had the cheese in a while.) Oh, and Junipero Gin, too (also by Fritz Maytag).

BTW: we're having loin lamb chops for dinner tonight. With ratatouille and couscous.

[schnitzel]

We eat lamb fairly often, especially when it's on sale. Had a boneless leg of lamb this weekend, lightly brined for 24 hours then rubbed with lemon, olive oil, garlic, oregano and pepper. Cooked slowly (225°F) in the smoker over lump charcoal and apple wood until about med-rare. Fabulous.

[Pan]

You seriously weren't aware of Maytag blue, Pan?

That's right; I seriously wasn't aware of it. And I never liked Roquefort (or any other kind of blue/green moldy cheese) until I had it in France.

[Stigand]

I was shocked by the price of lamb when I first moved to US from the UK. I imagine it's got a lot to do with the relatively low demand - which is obviously something of a vicious circle. Lamb is pretty cheap in the UK.

The other thing that I found very interesting was how difficult it was to get non-chi-chi cuts of lamb in many US supermarkets. There'd be very expensive rack of lamb, expensive chops, sometimes leg and that would be it.

What I never found was neck fillet, which is a wonderful cut with lots of fat. A succulent and easy dinner can be made by throwing a sliced aubergine (eggplant), a red pepper, a tomato, a chile and a few large cubes of neck fillet of lamb into a baking tray with seasoning and olive oil and cooking for 45 mins at 180-200 C. The lamb fat lends an incredible richness to the roasted vegetables.

Can I also put in an endorsement for deep-fried lambs' sweetbreads? (Never found these at the supermarket either, but I guess that's less surprising...)