Lamb lovers survey

[zilla369]

Last night I was at a charity event ($250 a couple) where 25 local restaurants were offering "small bites" for the patrons (it was a March of Dimes fundraiser).

We were serving our signature baby lamb chops on couscous with carmelized onions and raisins; all three elements of the dish were in separate chafing dishes.

One lady walked up to us tentatively, but with a brave smile on her face.

"So," she said. "Is this...squirrel?"

[Cucina]

I don't remember where I first tasted lamb - it wasn't at home - but as a small child - probably at a friend's house. My mother would not cook it because my father claimed to hate it.

So in second grade when I found out that our church was having an Easter fellowship dinner and would be serving lamb, I asked my parents if I could go. They dropped me off at the church and the priest was a bit surprised to see me there since everyone else there was an adult and children did not typically attend the fellowship dinners. He asked me what I hoped to learn that evening and I of course told him that i wasn't expecting to learn anything but I was really looking forward to the lamb and would it be okay if I had seconds and if there were leftovers could I take some home. (This was not quite what he expected, but he was very gracious about it).

Flash forward years later to a party my parents attended where my father had what he considered to be one of the best, most flavorful slices of beef roast ever and took the time to ask the hostess what she did to it. It was not beef but lamb. After questioning my grandmother, we later learned that he didn't like mutton - which was apparently served up to him by his grandmother as a child. The whole family now eats lamb.

[PAYAL SHARMA]

I only like the osso bucco and rack of rib cuts. Chops tend be too tough. Are there any other cuts worth noting?

I don't mind the lamb-y taste, but I buy supermarket lamb so it's probably not too gamey to begin with.

←

Chops need to to be marinated in some yogurt and left alone for two days and just see how tender and delicious they are. Try it ...

[PAYAL SHARMA]

When my parents came to visit years ago I served a boneless, marinated leg of lamb done on the BBQ. Mother was a cook it to death mint jelly kinda gal. They loved it and about the 3rd bite asked what it was. Never could get them to try goat though.

←

I have only had goat a very few times, but I really loved it. Haven't had the opportunity to cook with it, however--though I suspect I should be able to find it in a Mexican market around here somewhere.

Meanwhile, for some reason I have now flashed back to this one butcher shop in Boston's Haymarket, where my roommate of the time and I were regular customers back in the 1980s. One of the wise guys who ran the shop showed us a lovely lamb carcass hanging from a hook, waiting to be cut up. "A terrible thing happened to this lamb," Wise Guy intoned. We decided to take the bait--"Okay, what happened to it?" Wise Guy: "It died." I swear that line was funnier when actually standing in the middle of a meat locker staring at a lamb carcass. In any case, the lamb was quite delicious--glad those guys went into the meat biz instead of show biz.

←

You should be able to find goat in Indian or Pakistani grocery stores. You have to make sure that it is baby goat that you are buying any not older goat. The meat is much more tender then lamb but kind of messy to eat since the goat is not boneless like lamb. It won't be flavorful if it is boneless and maybe not even goat. Before cooking you need to wash it with salt water in order to clean and get rid of the smell.

Marination definately helps with goat or lamb.. It make the meat tender and adds flavor.

[daivmon]

How can you eat such a cute little animal?

Let me count the ways

1. Lamb chops <-- I first had chops with my dad, mom made them for him once a week

2. Chops w/the round bone <-- mom made this for me and I loved eating the marrow from the bone, mom would even give me her's.

3. Leg of Lamb <-- my first girlfriend's Russian grandmother made this for me.

4. Rack of lamb <-- beutiful medalians of meat and a side order of little ribs to nibble on too.

5. shwarma <-- loved the fallafels in Israel but when I returned I discovered these.

6. kebabs <-- dinner on a stick, what could be better?

7. Lamb Stew

Like Homer Simpsons I have been drooling while I have been reading all of these posts. I just got the seventh season of The Simpsons and the art on the first disc is Lisa cutting into two lamb chops while the little baby lamb is talking to her.

That TV Chef always says "Pork Fat Rules" well sir LAMB FAT RULES too, along with Duck Fat and Chicken Fat. Fat is half of the flavor, okay maybe a third of the flavor.

Daivmon

[BarbaraY]

I worked for many years at a family owned family restaurant. When the owner retired, he sold it. One of the new owners would bone the Sunday lamb and roast the bones along with the meat and then toss them. When I saw him do this I insisted he give me the bones for my "dog".

Dog my foot! I gnawed all those lovely bits of garlicky roasted meat off them before she got any.:biggrin

[daivmon]

I worked for many years at a family owned family restaurant. When the owner retired, he sold it. One of the new owners would bone the Sunday lamb and roast the bones along with the meat and then toss them. When I saw him do this I insisted he give me the bones for my "dog".

Dog my foot! I gnawed all those lovely bits of garlicky roasted meat off them before she got any.:biggrin

←

Some call it a Doggie Bag, others call it what it is a People Bag.

It's a good thing we didn't have a dog when I was growing up. It would go hungry waiting for a bone from my plate, I would clean the meat off of the bone.

[chappie]

I think judging by the company here that you aren't going to find many lamb objectors among this demographic. I devour it at every chance, but I know many people here on the Eastern Shore of Md. for whom lamb is a reviled and exotic game meat they avoid for simpler, blander fare.

My favorite lamb comes from a Persian kebab house in College Park, Md. (Food Factory). Rubbed in a spicy marinade, char-grilled and served with fresh and blistered naan and a spicy yogurt sauce.

[ellencho]

So two weeks turned into more than two months, but I finally got a chance to try Smithy's recipe. I bought two lamb chops and marinated them overnight. Here are my results.

Ok, first I'd like to say that the marinade is flavorful and delicious. It did a good job of masking most of the lamb-y taste. And out of all the lamb I ever tasted, this was the most palatable and easiest to eat. Thanks for the recipe Smithy.

[jsolomon]

As I write this post, I have a boned leg of lamb that I'm going to marinate in some extra virgin olive oil, blitzed onions, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and rosemary (sorry, FG) and smoke long and slow some coming weekend. Probably for when we get the wine in the fermentor ready to break out for the first time.

Lamb is great, and I think that most Americans don't like it because they simply don't have a reference for its taste, so they default to fussy.

[marlena spieler]

ooooooh i love everything about lamb, from its cuteness on the hoof to its deliciousness in the pan. i mean, how talented are those sheep??? cute and delicious too!

oh and mutton is equally cute and also very nice though harder to get ahold of.

i'm doing the foodblog this week (along with helenjp in japan). the weather broadcast is for snow showers today but i'm telling you: i might have to get my jacket on and trundle on up the hill to get some lamb to cook for my blog!

kleftiko is always very good: tender fall apart braised-roasty lamb with greek flavourings. perhaps, perhaps.....we shall see.

marlena

Edited January 6, 2006 by marlena spieler (log)

[helenjp]

I don't know about cute...ever have a pet sheep stand on your foot, grinning goofily at you, and refusing to move one inch? Cows at least have enough sense of self-preservation to move if you yell at them.

Anyway. I love lamb, and hoggett, and probably mutton too if I could remember when I last ate any.

I'm sure it sounds stupid, but I have a growing feeling that humans are best adapted to eating the smaller domestic animals such as pigs, sheep, and goats (let's leave cats out of the discussion for the moment), and reserving larger animals for occasional consumption. No logical basis, just a feeling...

Lamb - roast it, fry it, grill it, stew it, make soup out of it - it's as versatile as the humble chicken, and tastier with it. Easier to pluck, too.

I know people object to the gaminess or whatever, but when I first lived in Japan, beef was so expensive that I almost never ate it. When I did, I could hardly stand the taste - so I suspect that familiarity is the main issue here.

[Adam Balic]

Soome of the most interesting lamb I have eaten for a while. This is a leg of Shetland Lamb which is an ancient breed (has near identical bone structure to Iron age sheep in Europe) that is found in the extreme North of Scotland (and obviously Shetland) as it is the only breed that is hardy enough to survive there. The match gives you an indication of size and at £35 for this leg it isn't cheap, but the flavour is excellent. If given a chance to buy it, then go for it. No images of the meal as while cooking the leg I managed to knock my digital probe into the boiling stock-pot and therefore that later part of the meal was a little bit busy.

[nakji]

I remember the first time I had lamb, I hated it. I was ten years old, and visiting my grandmother in England. She cooked it until it was gray, and served it with the standard mint jelly. I also hated the gamey taste, with was pretty par for the course for me in those days, as my mother always had to struggle to get me to eat the deer and rabbit my father brought home from hunting. I didn't try it again for years, as most of my family didn't like it - no wonder, based on my grandmother's cooking! But then my husband I were were visiting his old university friend in Toronto on Easter weekend a few years ago, and his family roasted a whole lamb on a spit. It was spectacular! I was wary of trying it, based on past experience, and the fact that the roommate's father decided it would be funny to put the sheep's head in the middle of the plate - eyes, tongue and all. However, I was always taught it was rude not to eat what's offered. I didn't regret it! Crispy skin, sweet tender meat...

But then I moved to Korea, and it's pretty thin on the ground here, so I don't really eat it often. I was with friends in Beijing about two years ago, though, and we ordered some mutton there - also sublime! It was perhaps braised, with lots of cumin and a thick rich brown gravy, and served (I think) masses of cilantro leaves. I never would have ordered it myself; I consider my friends much more adventurous eaters - whenever I see mutton on a menu, I default to my first experience. (They also ordered a camphor smoked duck at the same meal - now I never travel without these guys!)

I'd love to try a leg or a chop done properly in a British or European style, though.

[Jennifer Brizzi]

I'm glad to see that this thread I started is still going strong and that there are so many fellow-lamb lovers out there. I never did an official tally because the vast majority of repsonders have been in the pro-lamb camp.

When I started the thread I was doing a lamb cooking demo and made so many batches of lamb stew I kind of OD'ed on the stuff, as much as I love it. So I took a little lamb break, but now I'm drooling for it again. I have four of the cutest natural local lamb shanks defrosting in the fridge, and I am pondering how to cook them. Probably a long slow braise over polenta. Any ideas for flavorings? I'd like to try something new besides my standard onion/garlic/rosemary.

[Peter the eater]

Lamb rules! Has to be one of my all-time my faves. I especially enjoy getting big flavour value out of the shanks - they are always cheap. I suppose that's why they're on so many "serious" restaurant menus ie. for the value-added factor.

Braise a couple of lamb shanks "slow on low" and serve with couscous, basmati, or a risotto. Not baaaaaaad.

[Shalmanese]

Living in Australia and loving lamb so much, I've been telling myself to eat more lamb, duck and other less vanilla meats for ages now and I'm finally got my freezer stocked to a respectable level.

Heres a rack of lamb on a bed of pureed sweet potatos, sauteed brocolini and mushroom reduction that I made sometime last month:

I've also been doing curries, stews, braised shanks, grilled chops, the works. I don't think I could ever get sick of it.

[Jambalyle]

Mouthgasms...

Bought a package of 6 lamb chops at Costco last weekend. I grilled them "rare" seasoned with a little EVOO, kosher salt, a few grinds of black pepper, garlic powder, and rosemary. Served with artichokes, roasted potatoes and a BV merlot.

OMG... the whole family (including 7 yearold son and 3 yearold daughter) were gnawing on the bones well after any trace of meat was long gone.

We are definitely doing this again next week!

[thursdaynext]

I hardly ever cook it simply because of economics - it's hideously expensive here compared to pork, chicken, and beef. I think the last time I priced it it even blew bison out of the water.

←

I come in on the side of the "lovers" as well. However, just as in Marcia's case, the relative cost is what dictates whether or not I purchases one of the (limited)selection of cuts available in my area.

Sigh.

[Jennifer Brizzi]

I hope it's not against the rules to revive a two-year-old topic that I started. Please let me know if it is. I just wanted to share the latest scrumptious lamb dish I discovered. I researched and cooked some Welsh cawl, a divine lamb, leek, and root veg stew. I put the recipe on my blog here.

The whole house smelled so good just when I was doing the simple first step, simmering the lamb shoulder in water and onion. I will just never stop loving this stuff--lamb--and discovering new (to me) ways of cooking it.

[Ndy]

It's great. One of my faves.

[Kerry Beal]

I've got a lamb shoulder in the oven right now. A bit of olive oil, herbes de provence, garlic and wine. Four hours, then I need to make some sort of beans to go with it. I have a variety of packages of Rancho Gordo beans to choose from.

[TongoRad]

The last couple of sliced lamb shoulder 'family packs' we have gotten from the supermarket were used in a variation of Madhur Jaffrey's lamb korma, with green raisins and saffron added (because I just can't leave well enough alone ), and it was just incredibly good. I've got another one in the freezer right now awaiting inspiration.

My latest thing is to cut the lamb for these dishes off of the bones, but roast the bones for later use (in a ziplock in the freezer). Soon I'll have enough for a small batch of lamb stock, and after that, well, one step at a time...

[Ted Fairhead]

Put me down as a lamb lover. Before coming to the States I lived for ten+ years on Romney Marsh where the Romney sheep are raised. A breed that produces good meat as well as high quality wool. Unfortunately living where I do now, in Eastern NC, lamb is so undesirable in the shops that I can only rarely find a lamb shank or two at an exorbitant price. If prices are driven by demand why do I have to pay up to $10-12 for them. I would love to be able to buy a leg of lamb.

Damn, I wish I hadn't started reading this thread.

[pax]

I am lambing now, my first time ever, and I am, sadly for me, running at a 75% ram lamb ratio.

All you lamb lovers, you might want to e mail me say in...August. ; )