Old Animals

[Mister_Cutlets]

Jeff,

What has your experience been with the meat of older animals? This topic has been preying upon me for a while, and I'm really curious. I've eaten more than my share of mutton, but I've seldom had the chance to eat cull beef, old turkeys in civets, "roosters in red wine," and so forth. I wonder if in your travels you have found old animals to be tastier animals. And while we're on the subject, why do you think mutton has never gotten a hoof-hold here in America?

Yours,

Mr. Cutlets

[GG Mora]

And while we're on the subject, why do you think mutton has never gotten a hoof-hold here in America?

I don't want to step on Mr. Steingarten's toes here, but I think I can suggest an answer to this.

My father, who was born in 1924, was so grossed out by lamb that my mother was forbidden to cook it. I never inquired as to why, and just assumed it was an individual idiosyncracy. Recently, I reconnected with an aunt and uncle – my father's sister and her husband – and offered to cook dinner while I was a guest in their home. My aunt was open to anything I cared to cook; my uncle was open to anything I cared to cook except lamb, and he was adamant about this. I thought it was interesting that he should have the same aversion as my father (maybe my Grandmother did unspeakable things with lamb?), so I investigated. It turns out that during WWII, the US armed forces, or at least the Navy, served mutton as its primary protein source because it was cheap and plentiful. It's not hard to imagine how poorly prepared it might have been. My uncle said that the smell of lamb brought back every possible anti-Proustian sense memory connected with horrid mutton dishes, that he hadn't touched lamb since the war, and that he had forbidden his wife to cook it in the house or to order it in restaurants in his presence. My father also served in the Navy during WWII.

I suspect a whole generation of American men have a similar aversion.

[mnebergall]

My father relates a similar experience regarding mutton and his service in teh Air Force. Mutton/lamb never graced our table as I was growing up. Now, lamb chops are my favorite meat.