Who likes lamb?

[Warrigal]

I do like lamb chops when we are at a restaurant that serves them. We also like preparing and cooking a leg of lamb, although we usually have to order one from our butcher. If it is prepared properly, leg of lamb is really a fine roast! We only have it for special occasions. New Years, Easter, etc.

One way to cook a leg of lamb that is truly delicious is to use a skewer or other sharp implement to drive holes though the flesh and poke slivers of garlic down into the holes. This imparts extra flavour. Rubbing fresh rosemary leaves into the surface is also good.

The leg doesn't have to be spring lamb. Cooked slowly even mutton will become tender. Leftovers make good sandwich meat or you can cut thicker slices and dip them in batter to make fritters.

 

[Warrigal]

Hogget is a sheep between 1 and 2 years old. Lamb is up to 1 year and Mutton is 2 years and older.

The age is determined by the teeth and years ago, to avoid misrepresentation, true lamb carcases were stamped with the word LAMB repeatedly down both sides with a red dye. Doesn't happen now and the word 'lamb' is used for all the sheep meat in the supermarket.

 

[Bellbird]

There are 5 times more sheep here than people. 26 million against 5 million. I prefer eating hoggett it has more flavour, pour mint sauce over it and its beautiful. Chops, gravy, potatoes, greens a lovely meal.

 

[Capt Lightning]

The age is determined by the teeth and years ago, to avoid misrepresentation, true lamb carcases were stamped with the word LAMB repeatedly down both sides with a red dye. Doesn't happen now and the word 'lamb' is used for all the sheep meat in the supermarket.

True lamb (under 1 year) is all you'll get in supermarkets here. Keeping sheep for more than a year becomes costly. Shearing, medication, supplementary food etc. all increase the price of the meat, so what was once a fairly common food, is now only a treat.
If you want hogget or mutton, you most likely need a specialist butcher or Asian food shop.

 

[Lethe200]

LOVE lamb - also goat, but the latter is really hard to find, even here in Northern CA where goat milk and goat butter are available in almost all large and specialty grocers. Capt Lightning's post is true here as well, but specifically it's the Caribbean and Muslim (halal) stores that carry goat, often frozen.

Spouse grew up in Hong Kong so he loves mutton, but we haven't found any in years. It's mostly hogget (thanks, I myself didn't know that term!), I think.

Lamb is easily available as nearby Sonoma County raises a lot of sheep, in addition to their wines and dairy cattle. The least expensive lamb, however, is from Australia or NZ, prepackaged cuts - rack of lamb, leg of lamb, loin or shoulder chops, shanks.

It's mostly the fat that gives lamb that strong smell, btw.

Although we love the strong gamy taste of lamb and goat, one of the specialties of some Sonoma County sheep ranchers is flavorful lamb. I don't know what breed(s) they raise but it has a very clean lamb flavor - lean and not gamy, but somehow well-flavored. A lot of times lean lamb is so mild you could easily mistake it for beef, but this meat is unmistakably lamb.

Bruce Campbell of CK Lamb, the pioneering rancher/agriculturist behind the Select Sonoma County program which promoted the best products from small artisanal SC producers, died in 2014, but his herd was bought and his breeding program continues under Rex Williams.

Sonoma County is one of our favorite places to visit (and dine!); whenever I see lamb on the menu I make sure to order it

 

[Pinky]

Although we love the strong gamy taste of lamb and goat, one of the specialties of some Sonoma County sheep ranchers is flavorful lamb. I don't know what breed(s) they raise but it has a very clean lamb flavor - lean and not gamy, but somehow well-flavored. A lot of times lean lamb is so mild you could easily mistake it for beef, but this meat is unmistakably lamb.

@Lethe200
I found that the lamb roasts I had in Australia smelled very similar to roast beef .. that really surprised me, as the lamb cutlets my sister and I used to buy here (Toronto) smelled and tasty very gamey, which turned us off.

 

[SeaBreeze]

In Australia, lamb was plentiful and was as popular as chicken. Here in the US it’s an expensive cut of meat. But I discovered that ground lamb isn’t as expensive and I’ve developed a rub that really brings out its flavor. That, and my Mum’s mint sauce, make it one of Ron’s favorite meals!!

I’ve discovered that a lot of folks think lamb has too pungent a taste and don’t care for it. How about you?
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We buy lamb sirloins and my husband grills them over charcoal. We will often eat them with oven roasted Brussels sprouts or cauliflower. They are pricey, but well worth it IMO.

There is no way I would buy or eat mutton, I don't like gamey anything.

https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-difference-between-lamb-and-mutton-2356034

 

[Purwell]

I do indeed like lamb but rarely buy it now, can't say that I've ever eaten mutton and it does not seem to be readily available here n the UK.

 

[WheatenLover]

I don't eat veal, lamb, or mutton. The veal is because of the way the calves are raised, and lambs are too cute, and mutton... just no. Really, my meat choices are sparse: rarely pork, more often beef or chicken. Sometimes I wish I ate more kinds of meat, just for a change.