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"mouton" versus "lamb"!!! would you...

post #1 of 13
4/23/09 at 10:39am
Thread Starter 
So am I on/near Indian Reservation and much mouton here. I love lamb, I tried mouton last year while again through Valley of the Gods (Utah) and it just did not do it for some reason. I talked to the butcher 40 miles from here and their moutons are about 3 to 4 years old. Lamb wouldbe too expensive he said... I then replied... but you have to feed it for 3 to 4 years! Mouton should be more expensive...

Question is... would you eat "mouton"? What do you think??? I remember it being of a stronger taste then lamb...

Be well... Ara & Spirit
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post #2 of 13
4/23/09 at 11:13am
I quite like mutton, when I can get it... it is no longer a popular meat, although gaining again as a 'new' flavour in some restaurants.

I grew up on Scottish mutton pies, Scotch broth soup and mutton stew!

You're right, it's a much stronger flavoured meat than young lamb. The reason it is cheaper than lamb is that it can be TOUGH.:D
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post #3 of 13
4/23/09 at 12:18pm
Mutton aren't "fed," they're grazed on communal, rez lands. There's no cost to feeding. Remember the sheep produce wool, an important part of the local economy. Some herders milk as well. So you can see the economic incentive is to keep the sheep going as long as you can still get a slaughter price for them.

The meat is decidedly stronger flavored than lamb, with an intrinsic smokiness. Your friends are the traditional strong-flavored "lamb" accompaniments like rosemary and mint, and long cooking. Braising is very good, so is traditoinal barbecue.

You can grill the loins and tenderloins without hiding the flavor too much. If you like lamb but aren't so sure about mutton, you can grind some of the tougher cuts and mix them with a little ground beef to keep the taste level manageable.

Personally, I like mutton (regular English spelling) quite a lot. You can find it at some of the ethnic markets around here (San Gabriel Valley), but it's nowhere as easy to get as lamb.

Gei gezundt en helt. Asa Hearthrug,
BDL
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post #4 of 13
4/23/09 at 12:33pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the reply. A few miles away from here near Monument Valley (Utah) where I was yesterday, on Navajo Indian Reservation, the Grodery store has every cut imaginable! Will be camping here another couple weeks, not much ingredients to play with and very little wood, but will get some. Should be good! Might even post some photos!!!
Great info and again, "Thank you"...

Be well... Ara & Spirit
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post #5 of 13
4/23/09 at 12:57pm
You're probably going to shop at the Basha's Market in Kayenta, AZ. Their mutton isn't local AFAIK, although that may have changed. Before getting rid of our meat bred sheep we used to sell slaughter sheep to a Basha's buyer . They bought all over the state, mostly to supply their reservation stores. Basha's is an old AZ chain and the only chain of supermarkets on the Navajo Reservation. Ask the butcher. Remember, your closest beer source is the Montezuma Inn right across the San Juan River bridge in Mexican Hat, Utah. It's 3.2 beer, but at least it's beer.....
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post #6 of 13
4/23/09 at 2:45pm
Thread Starter 
Ah! you know the area!!!
Actually the grocery store I am talking about is at Monument Valley, instead of making a L to go in you can make a R and it will take you there. Forfot the name, start with a G... Big selection and I don't mind at all the 30 mile nice ride...
OK... Street and Map to the rescue!!! It is the Goulding Trading Post...
Of course Kayenta is only another 22 miles, I don't think I ever been to Kayenta...
Thanks!
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post #7 of 13
4/23/09 at 3:58pm
I used to do a lot of business on the Rez and still have quite a few contacts, although I don't get up that way as much lately. I had forgotten that Goulding's sold groceries! Their mutton most likely WILL be local.
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post #8 of 13
4/23/09 at 4:08pm
Thread Starter 
That is what the butcher said... Fresh!!! I could still hear it... :D
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post #9 of 13
12/31/09 at 9:17pm
Eat mutton every chance I get. A road trip through Kayenta means a stop at the roadside flea market for a meal. A bonus if they have ribs as well.

Also the flea market at Shiprock is a great stop for mutton and many other goodies. Even try the Achee now and again.
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post #10 of 13
1/1/10 at 2:31am
I haven't seen mutton on the shelves here for years. Miss it very much. So good for slow cooking, so much more flavour than lamb. It has its own unique flavour. Now we have moved maybe I can find somewhere to source it. The area we were in was very limited in choices.

Enjoy the chance to get it while you can :)
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post #11 of 13
1/1/10 at 6:10am
3-4 years old???!!!!! WOW!!! That's a beautiful cut of meat-

Yes its true most of our industrial meat barely see more than a few months, and mutton is usually slaughtered after 12 months (usually JUST after 12 months!), so we've forgotten how good tougher, older meat is- defiantely agree with BDL, slow braise or roast to gelatinise all the tough, non-soluble collagen is extremely important, and a strong, winey braising liquid will mask some of the things you dislike about it.

Actually disliking mutton is VERY common, you're not wierd! Its the flavour of the oxygen providing protein known as myoglobin- mutton is very well endowed with it, and releases a very distinctive odor known as skatole, and also the aroma of the fats become much more pronounced.
My girlfriend can't stand it either, well I can't seem to get enough of it!
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post #12 of 13
1/4/10 at 4:30pm
Anecdote about the power of mutton-

We had a mutton dinner a few years ago, and fed the scraps, including a good bit of fat, to our dog.

It gave her gas... like the end of the world :eek:

We had to lock her out of the house for three days (fortunately we lived in Santa Barbara at the time, so she didn't freeze.) If we had been living in Chicago, she might have frozen, but would still have been out of the house!

The dog was crushed, and couldn't understand why she had been banished from her loving family.

So, be careful what you do with your lamb/mutton scraps!

Mike :rolleyes:
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post #13 of 13
1/4/10 at 4:55pm
we used to get fresh lamb, including rack of lamb for $1.25 thereabouts a pound at a trading post near Farmington NM. Had to specifically request the racks be left intact instead of being chopped up for soup, the usual treatment out there for than fine cut. Talk about a bargain. We'd visit family and come home with a couple fresh leg-o-lamb and the aforementioned racks.

watch that mutton fat for dogs. excess fat of any sort suddenly put into a dogs diet can be a severe health hazard. google "turkey skin dog" to see what the docs say about fatty dog treats. pancreatitis risk.
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