[Sca-cooks] Re: Lamb

[Louise Smithson]

>Ok, so I guess what I'm wondering is if all the
recipes for mutton in
>LCC, PNBoC, and TFCCB were intended for sheep over a
year(?) old, or
>did they just not make the distinction?
>

The Italian cookbooks I work with do make a
distinction.  There is some reference to sheep
(pecorino) but that is always in relation to cheese. 
Not the meat.  The meat that was eaten (as understood
from the cookbooks and menus) was castrato or castrone
(depending on dialect).  What this referred to was
castrated sheep of less than 1 year old.  Essentially
you don't keep Rams around too long, becuase they get
nasty and really aren't needed, after all 1 ram can
service bunches of sheep.  So you castrate them and
raise them for food.  I would have to check my copy of
Scappi to see if there is any comment made on the
preferred age of the animal, but the Italians at least
seem to be eating something more closely related to
lamb than sheep. 
Helewyse


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