[Sca-cooks] Defining lamb was lamb recipes?

[Terry Decker]

What is the Medieval usage of "lamb" and what references prove that usage?

Modernly, by regulation in the U.S. and the United Kingdom (IIRC), lamb is 
defined as a sheep under one year of age.  In the U.S., yearling lamb must 
be labelled "young mutton" or mutton.  So, lamb and mutton are legally 
defined and one can not be the other. ergo, "modern mutton" is not often 
called "lamb," at least not legally.  (You might also consider that U.S. 
growers can resort to growth hormones).

The term hogget is used for yearling sheep and it dates back to at least the 
early 14th Century, so the one year distinction is at least that old.

If by lamb, you should mean unweaned sheep, then you are describing a 
condition that lasts for six to seven months.  According to Platina, lambs 
were sold while they were still sucklings.  I think this represents an 
economic motivation, recouping expenses from both meat and milk rather than 
letting the lambs wean naturally and losing profits, and not specific usage. 
>From the few references I have found, while lamb may have commonly been used 
to describe unweaned sheep, it is not necessarily limited to that 
definition.

So, does anyone have any evidence of how the term "lamb" was used in the 
Middle Ages or Renaissance?

Bear

> Is this "lamb" by medieval terms? or is this modern mutton which is  often 
> called "lamb"?
>
> Stefan