Lamb lovers survey

[Carrot Top]

This is worrisome... I made a curried squash and lamb soup for staff meeting tonight....

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Anyone that does not respond to it - that will be their loss.

Bring lots of good bread.

If there are those that do not eat it, at least they will have seen it, smelled the fine aroma, and watched as others enjoyed it. That's a start, a memory that someday might push them right over the edge to take a bite.

[chefzadi]

I can eat a pound of lamb in one sitting.

Many Americans object to any red meat that doesn't taste bland, including cuts of beef like hanger steak. Others don't like lamb because they've never had access to the good stuff; the situation is improving but much of the lamb sold in supermarkets comes from fairly mature animals, which have stronger tasting meat.

I'm glad you said it and not me.

[srhcb]

It's a vicious cycle.

It's hard to get good lamb,

So most people have tasted poor "lamb",

So they don't like it/buy it,

So stores don't order it,

So regular meat suppliers don't carry it,

Because it's hard to get good lamb.

Who knows; so maybe there's better money in letting the little lambs grow into sheep and shearing their wool?

SB (half Serb/knows lamb)

[howard88]

I love lamb of all types and cuts. Lately I have been buying breast of lamb, (similar to breast of veal), and simply slow roasting it. While it's fatty, I simply cut the fat away and enjoy some really tasty meat.

[Ovenfrenzy]

I love lamb. Just about every year my husband and I buy an entire lamb- we used to buy them from a local 4-H fair but this year got it from a local farmer. He raises them with their mothers for a few months, then lets them frolic in green pastures. They eat nothing but mother's milk and grass. I asked for an older lamb because I enjoy a slightly stronger flavor...and the yearling we purchased was perfect. I find that any "gamey" or off flavors reside in the outside fat, so I trim my chops and roasts pretty close.

It's a shame more people aren't willing to try it.

[Carrot Top]

Who knows; so maybe there's better money in letting the little lambs grow into sheep and shearing their wool?

SB (half Serb/knows lamb)

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I dunno. I was going to grow lambs once when I lived on land where there was. . .land.

Seems to me if you have to do that rubber band thing to the boys when they are growing up one would want to eat them afterwards just to try to forget about the entire experience.

Rubber bands THEN shearing? What would the poor fellows have left?

[gourmande]

Absolutely LOVE! All cuts all preparations.

Lamb was never on the menu when I was growing up though, so I only discovered it in my twenties (30 some odd years ago) when my culinary interests were expanding. But I do remember that it was very difficult to find and very expensive, which it still is in many parts.

I am happy to say that I introduced many people (family and friends) to lamb, and all who have tried it came out of the experience loving it and wondering why they had never tried it before. On the other hand, I also know TOO many people who have never eaten lamb yet insist they don't like it, and refuse to even give it a try When I had my in-laws over for Easter dinner two years ago, I had a beautifully grill roasted leg of lamb that remained virtually untouched. The only takers were my daughter, my husband and me... all the others (15 or so of them) refused to even try it. In retrospect, had I not also had ham and turkey, they might have been forced to try it

Ah well... more lamb for us!

[Smithy]

I love lamb, but it's taken a while to convince my husband that lamb can be good. I think his family never ate it. My mother says she hates it because, as a little girl, she'd be disappointed when she was expecting pork chops and her mother served lamb chops instead. My paternal grandfather refused to eat lamb or permit it in his house because of the western Range Wars. The prolonged conflict over land use between cattlemen and sheep herders led to a strong prejudice against lamb in a lot of the western United States, and that still holds true in parts of the country.

I don't know if I have a favorite cut or treatment. Leg of lamb, roasted; lamb shanks, stewed with tomatoes and potatoes and good red wine; chops or steaks treated with lemon, garlic and oregano; Greek lamb; Moroccan lamb; rack of lamb with rosemary and mustard - it's all good.

[Megan Blocker]

Anyway. The only recipe I have had any success with in terms of introducing lamb to The Ones Who Fear It is lamb chops marinated overnight in a yogurt/honey/mint/scallion/lemon juice marinade then grilled. The aroma of the marinade and the scent of the grilled meat takes away any initial fright - or at least gets the taste buds salivating enough so that they overcome fear.

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Another good Introduction to Lamb dish is Lamb a la Bedford (I only recently discovered that this is its name - I really just think of it as my mom's leg of lamb recipe). It's butterflied leg of lamb marinated in red wine vinegar, olive oil, basil, oregano, onions...and then grilled (I make mine in the oven, since I live in Manhattan and am sadly sans grill - but it's very good that way, too.).

I can't find a copy of the recipe online, but have one at home. Anyone who's interested, just PM me!

My paternal grandfather refused to eat lamb or permit it in his house because of the western Range Wars.  The prolonged conflict over land use between cattlemen and sheep herders led to a strong prejudice against lamb in a lot of the western United States, and that still holds true in parts of the country.

That is fascinating! Maybe that's why my mom's fiance's family doesn't eat lamb - they're all from Idaho and Texas.

Edited October 17, 2005 by Megan Blocker (log)

[zilla369]

My paternal grandfather refused to eat lamb or permit it in his house because of the western Range Wars.  The prolonged conflict over land use between cattlemen and sheep herders led to a strong prejudice against lamb in a lot of the western United States, and that still holds true in parts of the country.

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That's fascinating. Thank you for educating us on that point! I googled this:

an excerpt from The Book of the American West by Jay Monaghan

[Smithy]

My paternal grandfather refused to eat lamb or permit it in his house because of the western Range Wars.  The prolonged conflict over land use between cattlemen and sheep herders led to a strong prejudice against lamb in a lot of the western United States, and that still holds true in parts of the country.

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That's fascinating. Thank you for educating us on that point! I googled this:

an excerpt from The Book of the American West by Jay Monaghan

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Thank YOU for that excellent link!

[ellencho]

I'm definitely in the minority here. I've eaten lamb a handful of times and although I really tried to like it, it's that game-y flavor that everyone else has been bringing up. Then again, I don't like duck meat either (but I will eat crispy duck skin) so I guess it's not surprising that I don't care for lamb.

However, I am not averse to cooking either lamb or duck, I just don't eat what I serve.

[Basilgirl]

I think lamb tastes like sweaters

[Megan Blocker]

I think lamb tastes like sweaters 

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I assume you mean wool sweaters as opposed to cotton?

[Smithy]

I'm definitely in the minority here. I've eaten lamb a handful of times and although I really tried to like it, it's that game-y flavor that everyone else has been bringing up. Then again, I don't like duck meat either (but I will eat crispy duck skin) so I guess it's not surprising that I don't care for lamb.

However, I am not averse to cooking either lamb or duck, I just don't eat what I serve.

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Have you tried marinades? I don't mean the kind that mask the flavor ("It's great! You can't taste the meat at all! ) but the kind that can draw out the gaminess. My favorite is a nearly all-purpose marinade of oil, lemon juice, chopped onions, parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, probably a few other things I'm forgetting. Meat marinaded in that and then grilled as in kabobs, or skillet-fried and worked into a pilaf, never tastes gamey to me. (I can post the recipe if it sounds appealing to you.) It seems a shame to cook something you won't eat yourself, if there might be treatments you'd like.

[carswell]

I think lamb tastes like sweaters 

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This probably means the lamb you've eaten has been closer to mutton than to spring lamb. Sheep secrete lanolin, which if I recall correctly also flavours their fat. Young lamb is lanolin free.

[Corinna Dunne]

... another Lamb Lover here

[Chef Shogun]

No, I did not like the Lamb Lover's Survey.

[jennahan]

I love lamb. I'm bringing up BB to be a lamb lover also (eats way more lamb than beef). I just find it so much more versatile than beef (better at handling strong spices).

I don't know if the lamb I get here in the UK is different than the one I got in the States, but I remember not liking lamb so much in the States due to a very strong gamey taste; the lamb here doesn't have the same gameyness (or else I just learned how to cook it better).

[touaregsand]

I've always been the type to pretty much eat anything. I liked lamb even as a kid. But I did not LOVE it until I went to France to visit the in laws. The had a freshly slaughter (and cleaned) whole lamb on the kitchen table. It was for a Muslim holiday, don't remember which one.

Over the course of a week we had lamb, lamb, lamb. But it was very fresh and not gamey at all. Even the liver did not taste strong at all. I've had better brands of lamb in the States, some imported, but the flavor just does not compare.

[Angela Alaimo]

I haven't had much lamb, since the first time it was awful. Tried again a few other times, once at MIL's house it was quite good, the next time well, it tasted like throw up (my description).

And then!, the last time was little lamb chops that were awfully good. There was indeed a flavor there that if stronger or not cooked properly would have probably been described as gamey. Or throw-up. So the jury is still out for me, but I am most willing to keep trying.

Angela

[srhcb]

I think lamb tastes like sweaters 

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I hope you mean lamb tastes like sweaters smell?

SB

[srhcb]

Seems to me if you have to do that rubber band thing to the boys when they are growing up one would want to eat them afterwards just to try to forget about the entire experience.

Rubber bands THEN shearing? What would the poor fellows have left?

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I picked up an interesting looking tool off my Tom's kitchen table one day while we were having coffee. Upon learning what it was for I dropped it like a hot potato!

I asked him how he could use such an implement, and he told me he couldn't, but his GF did the job.

I then asked how he could sleep ar night with the tool so handy?

On the brighter side of a relationship with a farm girl, she once raised the sheep, sheared them, spun and carded the wool, and knit him a sweater from the yarn!

SB (talk about your home-made!)

[SuzySushi]

Another lamb-lover here!

I think the two main reasons for its relative unpopularity in the USA (eGulleteers excepted!) are the "cute" factor and the strong lamb-y smell when cooked improperly. My mother used to cook lamb chops when I was a child - she never trimmed the fat first, overcooked them (broiled), and the house would reek!

Lamb isn't easy to come by in Hawaii. I usually pick up a leg of lamb whenever I can, cut some into steaks, some into cubes for stews, and grind the rest.

[Basilgirl]

I think lamb tastes like sweaters 

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I hope you mean lamb tastes like sweaters smell?

SB

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Yeah. Like wool (lanolin like Carswell said upthread). My sister really digs lamb, though, especially Indian style. The thought of eating a sweater makes my teeth hurt, like fingernails on a blackboard. Or chewing foil.