Bring on the Mutton!

This just in from a friend in Vermont (sheep country)

Our statewide newspaper had an article in today's issue about Prince
Charles advocating for more mutton consumption. He hosted the "Mutton
Renaissance Luncheon" at the Ritz. I guess world peace has enough
advocates, so he's aiming lower. It's a start! Can you hear his speech?

"It is imperative that in these uncertain times, that we seek that
which we remember from our youth, to remind us of the possible future,
that which would be impossible without mutton. My life would have been
an endless prison of galas, yachting, and travel without the grounding
that mutton provided me. We, who are more fortunate, must assist those
who are less fortunate, to appreciate what old dead sheep can do for
our souls."

That makes me wonder: What does happen to all the growed-up (sic) sheep?

Obviously, an awful lot of them are slaughtered as lamb, but that's not going to supply the wool market with enough beasts. Do wool ranchers just keep their beasts around until they keel over, or are they cycled out after a couple of years? I suspect the former, or we'd see lots more lambskin leather production too.

However, I also suspect that much of the lamb-containing dog food is probably from older animals that you and I would call mutton.

... My life would have been an endless prison of galas, yachting, and travel without the grounding that mutton provided me. We, who are more fortunate, must assist those who are less fortunate, to appreciate what old dead sheep can do for our souls."

Is this from the Vermont edition of the Onion?

***

A Mexican-American friend of mine here in Chicago, a gentleman who worked for some thirty plus years in the meat packing industry, tells me that the vast majority of the "chivo" sold in Chicago is, in fact, Prince Charlie's source of grounding, mutton. Since this man hails from near Monterrey, where goat is hardly exotic fare, and in light of his many years in the meat industry, I would suspect he knows well whereof he speaks.


A

Antonius wrote:Is this from the Vermont edition of the Onion?

***

No, if you read my posting, that sentance is my friend musing about what Prince Charles' speech might have been.

stevez wrote:

Antonius wrote:Is this from the Vermont edition of the Onion?

***

No, if you read my posting, that sentance is my friend musing about what Prince Charles' speech might have been.

Well, I think I realised that... The Onion question was sort of a joke and sort of a compliment to your friend... Not that I'm a huge Onion fan but sometimes it's pretty funny...

A

Hi,

I posted the following on mutton earlier this year at this CH thread on the general board.

Cathy2, May 19, 2004 wrote:Hi,

I don't like mutton! I don't like it! I don't like it! Hmmmph! Sounds like a 10-year-old, well that is about when I last had any mutton. Now over 30 years later, I am daring myself to give it another try.

What recipes or techniques can anyone offer that once I make it and take that first bite I will have an orgiastic AH HA moment ... ok, if I find it remotely tolerable will be fine with me.

My Grandmothers culinary skills were polar opposites of each other. They were even in one category only: no mutton either one made tasted good in my opinion.

So unchain me from my ignorance and prejudice with a mutton preparation whose results you believe make it a worthwhile meat. If there are tips in selecting mutton, then please advise.

Thank you for your consideration.

Regards,
Cathy2

I still haven't directly revisited mutton. So many things I didn't like in my childhood I have revisited and found to like or at least found passable. Now with winter round the corner, a slow cooked meal of mutton may be an interesting visit to dark corners of my culinary closet.

I can still remember when lamb was only a spring food like asparagus and rhubarb. Mutton was all year round. When lamb became available all-year-round, then mutton quickly faded into the background. I believe availability of mutton was retired by (marketing) design. If you dislike mutton, then your willingness to try lamb is greatly diminished. Lamb has a higher cash value and warm fuzzies, which mutton by comparison has almost none. Ethnic markets which sell goat are quite likely to have mutton. I still am not whipped up with enthusiasm, though I will give it a shot and advise.

Sheep production in the United States has fallen drastically in the last 40 years or so. Production primarily for wool is uneconomical almost everywhere in this country, so remaining sheep production is oriented to producing lambs for meat. This fact has changed the mix of breeds raised. In many breeds the ewes come in heat only at the time of year to produce lambs born in the spring. However, some breeds will come into heat at other times. Guess what breeders aiming for lamb have been selecting and crossing for? For many years the push was just to get earlier breeding because the lambs fetched higher prices. Selecting for producing twins has other obvious advantages when lamb meat is the primary product. Ewes are reliably fertile for several years, so the ratio of lambs sold to mature ewes sold guarantees that there won't be a lot of mutton on the market. Mutton from a ewe culled after her first lambing will be tenderer and less strongly flavored than mutton from a four-year old ewe. If a ewe lamb fails to become pregnant, she will probably be slaughtered while under a year old and so eligible to be labeled lamb.

For many years most lambs from Eastern and Midwestern farms were born earlier than in the Western ranges and had supplemental feed so they would reach slaughter weight early--spring lambs. Lambs from the range tended to be born later, grew more slowly and often had some additional feeding before being slaughtered in the fall. These lambs are larger than spring lambs.

I suspect that a fair fraction of the mutton produced in this country has gone into pet food since little or no horse meat apparently is used in pet food any more.