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| Description: | | The terms lamb, hoggett or mutton are used to describe the meat of a domestic sheep. The meat of a sheep a year old or younger is generally known as lamb, whereas the meat of an older sheep is either hoggett or mutton depending on its age and characteristics. In some countries all such meat is referred to as lamb. All of these are known generically as sheepmeats. Note that lamb can refer to the live animal as well as to the meat product, whereas hoggett and mutton refer only to the meat which is said to be taken from a sheep.
The meat of a lamb is taken from the animal between one month and one year old, with a carcass weight of between 5.5 and 30 kilograms. This meat generally is more tender than that from older sheep and appears more often on tables in some western countries. Hoggett and mutton can taste more flavorful than lamb because they contain a higher concentration of species-characteristic fatty acids. They also tend to be tougher than lamb (because of connective tissue maturation) and are therefore better suited to casserole-style cooking. Sheepmeat features prominently in cuisines of the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, and India because other red meats are eschewed for religious or economic reasons.
Legs of lamb in a supermarket cabinet
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Legs of lamb in a supermarket cabinet
Milk-fed lamb (also known as slinks or baby lambs) is meat from an unweaned lamb, typically 4 to 6 weeks old and weighing 5.5 to 8 kg; this is almost unavailable in countries such as the USA and the UK, where it is considered uneconomic. The flavour and texture of milk-fed lamb when grilled (such as the tiny lamb chops known as chuletillas in Spain) or roasted (lechazo asado or cordero lechal asado) is generally agreed to be finer than that of older lamb. The areas in northern Spain where this can be found include Asturias, Burgos, Cantabria, Castile-Leon, and La Rioja.
The term sucker lambs includes young milk-fed lambs as well as slightly older lambs up to about 7 months of age which are also still dependant on their mothers for milk. Carcasses from these lambs usually weigh between 14 and 30kg. Older weaned lambs which have not yet matured to become mutton are known as old-season lambs. |
| Contributed by: guido on Friday, January 06. 2006 at 11:46:18 |
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