It’s shocking how much baggage lamb has as a protein, especially in the United States. Sometimes I feel like I’m the official Lambassador, spouting to anyone who will listen, the virtues of this delicious alternative to beef. I just adore lamb. I cook it weekly: lamb ragu fusilli, merguez tagine, or the house favorite, lamb carnitas tacos with cilantro tzatziki (recipes coming soon). I’ve even rotisseried two whole lamb in my backyard. One for my 40th birthday, the other..just...cuz. I’m planning a lamb party this summer if you’re in the area.
So what is it about this protein that gets people so flustered?
First, a history lesson.
Domesticated sheep have been part of the human diet longer than any other farm animal. In fact, some archaeologists say that sheep-raising is the oldest form of commerce, starting in Central Asia some 10,000 years ago.
Today, sheep—or lamb as we commonly refer to it in US grocery stores—is still a favorite in the Middle East, Iceland, New Zealand and Australia. At Le Paturage, the fantastic French butcher shop near my aunt’s house, lamb accounts for almost half of sales.
However, in the US, lamb is not very popular. We only eat about a pound of lamb per person. That’s compared to 57 pounds per capita of beef! More often lamb is considered a holiday meat—Happy Easter and Passover everyone!—or something for special occasions and restaurant menus. Other than spring time, it’s hard to find more than one or two cuts of lamb at the grocery store.
But that didn’t used to be the case. America was once home to one of the largest lamb industries in the word.
First smuggled into the British colonies in the 16th and 17th Centuries, lamb expanded across North America with shocking speed. By the late 19th Century, there were more than 50 million sheep grazing the plains and mountainsides of the US, exceeding the human population. During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson had sheep on the White House lawn to keep the grass neat. In World War II, US soldiers were more likely to eat lamb than Spam on the war front.
Then, the lamb industry collapsed. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what caused the drop off, but there are several theories. Maybe the GIs coming home from the wars swore off canned mutton. Synthetic fibers became very popular about the same time, reducing the demand for wool. Culturally, some people saw lamb as what their immigrant parents ate. Corn fed beef just felt more…American.
This perfect storm caused domestic production to slip for decades. When foreign markets figured out they could provide cheaper chops, the bubble burst. US lamb herds plummeted, and now only about five million American animals are raised each year.
Lamb is Too Gamey?
This is definitely the biggest complaint I heard in seven years of running a butcher shop. The “g-word.”
Lamb is a deliciously sweet and complex meat that eats similarly to beef, but does have a unique grassiness that reminds me with each bite, we are what we eat.
I’m not going to argue with you on taste, but if you’re feeling like lamb is just too strong in flavor for your dinner guests, consider one thing. The flavor is in the fat, and lamb has a lot of it. If not properly rendered, lamb tastes stronger.
Sooooo….. if the “g-word” is due to unrendered fat, we need to properly render said fat. This means cooking the steak or roast a little slower than you would beef. A reverse sear or sous vide is a great way to allow the meat to release a lot of its fat without overcooking the lean. More fat in the pan means less gaminess on the plate. But that doesn’t meant overcook the meat. Lamb should be cooked to the same temperature as your favorite cuts of beef. Check out more detailed instructions in my January post, Aren’t All Lamb Chops the Same?
I Probably Ate Mutton; That’s Why I Don’t Like Lamb
The ovis aries—or common domesticated sheep—is known by several names, but none instills more indigestion than the m-word, “mutton.” My dad politely declines the invitation every time lamb is on my dinner table, preferring to retell the anecdote of eating mutton as a child, and how it reminded him of boiled socks.
What is mutton, and how is it different from the lamb we eat today? Well first, let’s get our vocabulary straight. Lamb is any sheep before its first birthday. After one year, they graduate to yearling, unless you’re in Australian, then they’re called a hogget. Got it? After their second birthday, they become mutton. The vast majority of lamb are processed at 12 months. Often milking sheep or breeding sheep are the only animals to live any longer, and they make up less than one tenth of 1% of all lamb sold in the US.
What that means is that mutton is basically an endangered species. It’s so rare in fact, that there was a Mutton Renaissance Campaign in England to bring it back into fashion, championed by none other than King Charles, stoically longing for those cold mutton sandwiches of his youth.
All Lamb is Grass-Finished
I’m a big proponent of grass-finished meat. And what’s not to love? It’s natural, sustainable, more complex in flavor, and healthier. Oh, and it saves the planet.
For many years, my eco-expert buddies would say, if they had to blindly pick a meat out of the grocery store and eat it, they would eat lamb. Environmentally speaking, thirty years ago, most lamb was pasture raised its entire life, and never tasted soy or corn. “There is no such thing as a lamb feedlot,” one particularly confident sustainability friend espoused.
Sorry guys, times have changed. Just like 95% of the beef sold in the US, most American lamb is finished on grain and soy. After eating grass for 6-8 months, they are sent to a feedlot like their beefier bigger brothers.
Historically, Australian and New Zealand lamb were 100% grass-fed as well, but feedlot lamb down under is now 15% of what they’re raising, and even more of what they’re exporting. Plus, the 8,000 mile commute ain’t great for Mother Nature either.
What’s the best way to insure your lamb is 100% grass finished and environmentally responsible? Look for the labels, grass-finished or 100% pasture-raised. Or, buy direct from a ranch like Emigh Lamb. And if that doesn’t work, buy hyper local from a small producer. That can be hard to find in Southern California, but in the Pacific Northwest or East Coast, many small farms are raising a handful of sheep, I mean lamb. And 4H kids love to raise them too. State and county fairs (late summer) are a good place to visit and ask around when you’re looking for a local source that doesn’t end up at the feedlot.
You Can Eat Lamb for Easter But Not Passover
For thousands of years, lamb has been associated with religious meals and festivals, served as an expression of welcome, birth, marriage, and synonymous with sacrifice and atonement. It’s popular for Christians at Easter, and the Jewish holiday of Passover. In fact, more than 20 percent of lamb in the US is sold in the weeks before these two spring holidays.
So boy was I surprised when a butcher shop guest reprimanded me for suggesting he serve lamb at his Passover Seder? How could I have gotten that wrong?
Turns out, I’m not the first to stumble into this holy hot potato.
According to the rigorous culinary religious authority, Food and Wine Magazine, it seems Passover lamb is more a cultural difference than religious. Sephardic Jews (from Southern Europe and the Mediterranean) are totally cool with eating lamb for Passover. Ashkenazi Jews, (from Eastern Europe and Russia) on the other hand, forbid it, and instead prefer brisket—which is so much better than only eating matzo! Just sayin’.
I’m already bracing for the email on this one, so please consider the source, and re-educate me kindly.
Lamb Doesn’t Go with Anything but Mint Sauce
More than any other meat in the case, lamb seems to be unfairly shackled to culinary compatriots; none more misplaced than the mint leaf. Call me crazy, but I despise mint with lamb. In fact, other than when hidden in tzatziki, or the eponymous mint chocolate chip ice cream, the herb seldom enters my kitchen.
Instead, consider the Mediterranean herbal sisters, rosemary, oregano, or thyme. Cut out the middle man and just use Herbes de Provence. Blanket the thing in cumin and an embarrassing quantity of garlic. Experiment with the tenderizing effects of yogurt and lemon juice. Spice things up with harissa and sriracha. Or, if you’re set on something green, try my favorite meat salsa, the Yemini Zhug.
Or if you’re like me, just salt the meat and cook it over an open flame. Well-seasoned lamb with a bit of smoke doesn’t need anything else to make it delicious.
Whatever you do, be original. Cooking is about experimenting, blending of flavors, and telling a story with your recipe. Leave the mint in your toothpaste tube, throw a slab of lamb on the Barbie, and make sure to share it with at least one friend who doesn’t know what they’re missing.
Happy Spring Holidays!
Kudos on a great lamb article!! I loved it. Just this week I took a lamb neck from my freezer, dry brined it for 24 hours and cooked it in the slow cooker with dry chiles, cinnamon stick, garlic, onions, bay leaves, avocado leaves, oregano, cumin and coriander. Birria tacos with fresh masa tortillas and consumé!! So simple and so delicious!!
Great piece, Steve! Food + humor + history is always a winning combination for me!
I once had a job where I would have to orchestrate meals with menus that pulled recipes from cultures around the world. I’ll never forget the time I enthusiastically suggested we serve lamb. My food-loving boss pushed back, telling me that “not everyone loves lamb”. I was incredulous. It had never occurred to that lamb would ever have anything but a generally great reputation.
I grew up eating and loving lamb, prepared by my mother, usually in the form of lamb chops seasoned with (non-mint) herbs. Lamb was always a treat! These days I will occasionally prepare lamb chops for my family, or we’ll order it in the form of an Indian curry. The obstacle for not cooking more lamb at home is the price, as it tends to be more expensive than other meats.
As for removing the fat to reduce the “gamey” flavor, I would say: The fat is the best part! Crispy lamb fat - the idea is making me hungry! 😆 But I know that not everyone loves that flavor.
Great writing on this informative and fun piece!