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I'm the cook in our household and for me the article doesn't quite capture my observations... maybe it's because of my location, but it isn't easy to find lamb

I'm the cook in our household and for me the article doesn't quite capture my observations... maybe it's because of my location, but it isn't easy to find lamb in my local grocery stores and it is at a super premium relative to other options. The lamb available is so flavorful that I can't imagine something even stronger. Having checked with butcher shops, anything they can get that would be local (rather than from NZ or AUS) is even more expensive, and generally only ground or chops. So... I'm seeing a catch-22 here where it's not really available, therefore people don't eat it. And if the cost is x2+ of other choices, people are going to think carefully about their budget. Finally, it really is a unique flavor that even for all my culinary explorations, I see it as an occasional change-of-pace rather than a regular part of our menu. Great as doner / gyro, individual kebabs, in stews, but beyond that I continue to be at a loss of what to do with it.

CoastalCoder 3y ago
My family jas a wonderful recipe for lamb stew, and it has some strong flavors via tomatoes, garlic, onion, and lemon. I've never eaten mutton, but I'm wondering if its stronger flavor would be fine in that stew.
- poulsbohemian 3y ago
  Yeah - sounds a lot like the various dishes across a range from the Mediterranean to the "-stans" that I've made with lamb. No reason I couldn't use mutton - if it were available. I've had some lamb that was absolutely overpowering, so having a hard time imaging something more than that.
- gingerrr 3y ago
  I've only eaten mutton in heavily spiced dishes and it does go very well in those settings - you need other strong flavors to stand up to the gaminess of the mutton, which might be why it hasn't caught on in American cuisine which tends to focus less on heavy spice profiles and more on just cooking ingredients to present their natural flavors.
a2tech 3y ago
Here in Michigan mutton is not overly difficult to get (lots of middle eastern and african immigrants) but it's a hard sell to anyone that didn't grow up eating it. Lamb (as you said) have a strong but not unpleasant flavor. Mutton takes that flavor dial and turns it way up.
- fsckboy 3y ago
  in my lifetime, Americans have been steadily losing their taste for not just gamy but other strong flavors as well. Endives used to be just plain bitter, for people who liked bitter, now you can safely put them in a kid's salad. It's sad. And I think other cultures are and will keep losing their tastes too; I've noticed for instance, that not all Chinese like chowing down on all the weird parts of animals, and Europe has plenty of the same "supermarket cheese" that Americans have. On the plus side, worldwide people have expanded their palates a lot in a way that increases the range and diversity of what they eat, but in terms of the globalized ingredients we can lay our hands on there is still a general regression toward a very mean mean.
  - adasdasdas 3y ago
    It's sad, I think there's a negative feedback loop of, supermarkets only selling the most common produce, and people only learning recipes that use the produce supermarkets sell.
  - dekhn 3y ago
    One of my favorite questions "what does gamey taste like". I've gotten a wide range of answers.
    - sumedh 3y ago
      For me it tastes a bit metallic, you can taste it clearly if you eat kangaroo meat.
    - rirze 3y ago
      I'd say it's a strange umami flavor. Tasting something gamey triggers something in my head that says, "oh this is animal scent". Maybe it's more olfactory than flavor?
dorfsmay 3y ago
> anything they can get that would be local (rather than from NZ or AUS) is even more expensive This might be key. It might be that your juridiction has trade agreements with other countries and impose that local lamb has cannot be sold cheaper, and if that is the case it would explain why local products are more expensive and lamb/mutton not marketed at all. Talk to local producers to confirm. I don't know about today, but this used to be an issue for lamb manu markets.
hirundo 3y ago
I'm cooking a leg of lamb now from my local Safeway. It costs $7/lb, which is the same as chuck roast. But it's maybe 1/4 more expensive due to that big leg bone (which my dog values highly). Still that feels like the price is comparable to beef, but a nice alternative flavor. I haven't seen mutton for sale at any grocery.
- poulsbohemian 3y ago
  In my location, lamb is closer to $10/lb (at grocery stores - higher at butcher), while I can get (grass fed, super high quality) beef straight from the rancher at less than $4/lb.
cryptonector 3y ago
Don't forget lamb shank. And yes, it's terribly expensive, all things lamb, and it makes no sense that it's so expensive.
- TylerE 3y ago
  Of course it's expensive. You have to put a multi-year old sheep through a 6 month gestation period (and most will only go into heat during certain times of year), out of which you are likely to get only one or two lambs, each of which when slaughtered provides at best 10kg of marketable meat, if that. Compare with chickens (massive egg output, so you get infants practically continually, or cows which while they have many of the same drawbacks, are far more productive, hundreds of kilos of meat from one animal isn't unusual.
  - greycol 3y ago
    The meat used to be much cheaper (at least local to NZ) when sheep were farmed primarily for their wool rather than meat. Basically each ewe could give you 5 or 6 rounds of lambs that were surplus to keeping the population stable and they'd mostly be timed for spring when pasture was productive enough for the extra livestock.
    - TylerE 3y ago
      That makes total sense. Great example of a product that is only viable because it’s inputs would otherwise just be waste.
- justincormack 3y ago
  Shank used to be cheap but it got fashionable. There isn’t much shank compared to say leg. Good portion for one.
andybak 3y ago
In the UK, lamb is one of the "big 4". If you have a roast dinner it will be chicken, lamb, pork or beef (probably in that order of likelyhood). It's just another meat that you'd roast and slice and eat with gravy and veg. I probably know more people who dislike pork than dislike lamb. I don't think many people really regard it as an especially strong flavour.
- laurencerowe 3y ago
  > I don't think many people really regard it as an especially strong flavour. For some reason the lamb available in the US is much more strongly flavoured than what I was used to in the UK, which was usually from UK/Aus/NZ.
  - andybak 3y ago
    Different cuts of lamb do differ in flavour. In fact I'm often disappointed when I order lamb and it's not... lamb-ey enough.
    - LegitShady 3y ago
      I think it also depends how or where it's grown. I've had lamb from Australia that was very gentle and from South America where it was not.
  - LAC-Tech 3y ago
    Livestock in AU and NZ is grass-fed almost exclusively. I know in the US they often feed their cattle corn, is it the same for sheep?
freeopinion 3y ago
Sometimes I forget what a privilege it is to drive past cows and goats and lambs and chickens, etc. every day. It's hard to imagine a lifestyle where you don't have any interaction with anybody who could connect you to a locally-grown lamb. Have you asked a search engine for locally grown lambs in your area? I typed in "locally grown lambs orlando" and "locally grown lambs san diego" and both brought up https://localharvest.org https://localharvest.org. I have no idea what prices you might find that way.
- cooper_ganglia 3y ago
  I just imagined not driving past cows and goats and chickens everyday, and it was a sad thought. The concrete jungle just isn’t for me, thanks for the timely reminder! :)
  - mixmastamyk 3y ago
    I just imagined having to drive every day, and it was an angry thought.
    - cooper_ganglia 3y ago
      30 minutes to work, 30 minutes back home, 4 days a week! Not a bit of traffic, aside from school buses or tractors! It's relaxing, and a great time to catch up on podcasts, lectures, or just do some karaoke! And the views are gorgeous! Just earlier today I stopped in the middle of the road on my way home just to stare in awe at the sunset beaming across the sky onto a huge, billowing, fluffy cloud that was kissing the horizon, rolling green pastures dotted with cows basking in the fading sunlight. I really do underappreciate the beauty of rural living!
      - renewiltord 3y ago
        Takes all kinds to fill a world, I suppose. I don't think I'd like that commute at all. Too long and requires attention so you can't read.
      - deleted 3y ago
bregma 3y ago
Yeah, where I live lamb comes in tiny shrinkwrapped imported packages and sells for about $40/lb. You can also get similar small frozen packets of camel and ostrich meat in the freezer section. You can not buy mutton anywhere (unless you know a guy). We eat beef, chicken, pork, and turkey all usually in the form of ground beef or grilling steaks, boneless skinless chicken breasts, pork sausages or chops, and whole turkey. Everything else is, as one grocery store clerk put it to my wife, "a little exotic for this continent."

CoastalCoder 3y ago

My family jas a wonderful recipe for lamb stew, and it has some strong flavors via tomatoes, garlic, onion, and lemon. I've never eaten mutton, but I'm wondering if its stronger flavor would be fine in that stew.

poulsbohemian 3y ago
Yeah - sounds a lot like the various dishes across a range from the Mediterranean to the "-stans" that I've made with lamb. No reason I couldn't use mutton - if it were available. I've had some lamb that was absolutely overpowering, so having a hard time imaging something more than that.
gingerrr 3y ago
I've only eaten mutton in heavily spiced dishes and it does go very well in those settings - you need other strong flavors to stand up to the gaminess of the mutton, which might be why it hasn't caught on in American cuisine which tends to focus less on heavy spice profiles and more on just cooking ingredients to present their natural flavors.

a2tech 3y ago

Here in Michigan mutton is not overly difficult to get (lots of middle eastern and african immigrants) but it's a hard sell to anyone that didn't grow up eating it. Lamb (as you said) have a strong but not unpleasant flavor. Mutton takes that flavor dial and turns it way up.

fsckboy 3y ago
in my lifetime, Americans have been steadily losing their taste for not just gamy but other strong flavors as well. Endives used to be just plain bitter, for people who liked bitter, now you can safely put them in a kid's salad. It's sad. And I think other cultures are and will keep losing their tastes too; I've noticed for instance, that not all Chinese like chowing down on all the weird parts of animals, and Europe has plenty of the same "supermarket cheese" that Americans have. On the plus side, worldwide people have expanded their palates a lot in a way that increases the range and diversity of what they eat, but in terms of the globalized ingredients we can lay our hands on there is still a general regression toward a very mean mean.
- adasdasdas 3y ago
  It's sad, I think there's a negative feedback loop of, supermarkets only selling the most common produce, and people only learning recipes that use the produce supermarkets sell.
- dekhn 3y ago
  One of my favorite questions "what does gamey taste like". I've gotten a wide range of answers.
  - sumedh 3y ago
    For me it tastes a bit metallic, you can taste it clearly if you eat kangaroo meat.
  - rirze 3y ago
    I'd say it's a strange umami flavor. Tasting something gamey triggers something in my head that says, "oh this is animal scent". Maybe it's more olfactory than flavor?

dorfsmay 3y ago

> anything they can get that would be local (rather than from NZ or AUS) is even more expensive This might be key. It might be that your juridiction has trade agreements with other countries and impose that local lamb has cannot be sold cheaper, and if that is the case it would explain why local products are more expensive and lamb/mutton not marketed at all. Talk to local producers to confirm. I don't know about today, but this used to be an issue for lamb manu markets.

hirundo 3y ago

I'm cooking a leg of lamb now from my local Safeway. It costs $7/lb, which is the same as chuck roast. But it's maybe 1/4 more expensive due to that big leg bone (which my dog values highly). Still that feels like the price is comparable to beef, but a nice alternative flavor. I haven't seen mutton for sale at any grocery.

poulsbohemian 3y ago
In my location, lamb is closer to $10/lb (at grocery stores - higher at butcher), while I can get (grass fed, super high quality) beef straight from the rancher at less than $4/lb.

cryptonector 3y ago

Don't forget lamb shank. And yes, it's terribly expensive, all things lamb, and it makes no sense that it's so expensive.

TylerE 3y ago
Of course it's expensive. You have to put a multi-year old sheep through a 6 month gestation period (and most will only go into heat during certain times of year), out of which you are likely to get only one or two lambs, each of which when slaughtered provides at best 10kg of marketable meat, if that. Compare with chickens (massive egg output, so you get infants practically continually, or cows which while they have many of the same drawbacks, are far more productive, hundreds of kilos of meat from one animal isn't unusual.
- greycol 3y ago
  The meat used to be much cheaper (at least local to NZ) when sheep were farmed primarily for their wool rather than meat. Basically each ewe could give you 5 or 6 rounds of lambs that were surplus to keeping the population stable and they'd mostly be timed for spring when pasture was productive enough for the extra livestock.
  - TylerE 3y ago
    That makes total sense. Great example of a product that is only viable because it’s inputs would otherwise just be waste.
justincormack 3y ago
Shank used to be cheap but it got fashionable. There isn’t much shank compared to say leg. Good portion for one.

andybak 3y ago

In the UK, lamb is one of the "big 4". If you have a roast dinner it will be chicken, lamb, pork or beef (probably in that order of likelyhood). It's just another meat that you'd roast and slice and eat with gravy and veg. I probably know more people who dislike pork than dislike lamb. I don't think many people really regard it as an especially strong flavour.

laurencerowe 3y ago
> I don't think many people really regard it as an especially strong flavour. For some reason the lamb available in the US is much more strongly flavoured than what I was used to in the UK, which was usually from UK/Aus/NZ.
- andybak 3y ago
  Different cuts of lamb do differ in flavour. In fact I'm often disappointed when I order lamb and it's not... lamb-ey enough.
  - LegitShady 3y ago
    I think it also depends how or where it's grown. I've had lamb from Australia that was very gentle and from South America where it was not.
- LAC-Tech 3y ago
  Livestock in AU and NZ is grass-fed almost exclusively. I know in the US they often feed their cattle corn, is it the same for sheep?

freeopinion 3y ago

Sometimes I forget what a privilege it is to drive past cows and goats and lambs and chickens, etc. every day. It's hard to imagine a lifestyle where you don't have any interaction with anybody who could connect you to a locally-grown lamb. Have you asked a search engine for locally grown lambs in your area? I typed in "locally grown lambs orlando" and "locally grown lambs san diego" and both brought up https://localharvest.org https://localharvest.org. I have no idea what prices you might find that way.

cooper_ganglia 3y ago
I just imagined not driving past cows and goats and chickens everyday, and it was a sad thought. The concrete jungle just isn’t for me, thanks for the timely reminder! :)
- mixmastamyk 3y ago
  I just imagined having to drive every day, and it was an angry thought.
  - cooper_ganglia 3y ago
    30 minutes to work, 30 minutes back home, 4 days a week! Not a bit of traffic, aside from school buses or tractors! It's relaxing, and a great time to catch up on podcasts, lectures, or just do some karaoke! And the views are gorgeous! Just earlier today I stopped in the middle of the road on my way home just to stare in awe at the sunset beaming across the sky onto a huge, billowing, fluffy cloud that was kissing the horizon, rolling green pastures dotted with cows basking in the fading sunlight. I really do underappreciate the beauty of rural living!
    - renewiltord 3y ago
      Takes all kinds to fill a world, I suppose. I don't think I'd like that commute at all. Too long and requires attention so you can't read.
    - deleted 3y ago

bregma 3y ago

Yeah, where I live lamb comes in tiny shrinkwrapped imported packages and sells for about $40/lb. You can also get similar small frozen packets of camel and ostrich meat in the freezer section. You can not buy mutton anywhere (unless you know a guy). We eat beef, chicken, pork, and turkey all usually in the form of ground beef or grilling steaks, boneless skinless chicken breasts, pork sausages or chops, and whole turkey. Everything else is, as one grocery store clerk put it to my wife, "a little exotic for this continent."