[Sca-cooks] lamb vs. mutton

[Terry Decker]

While we have considered that lamb may have meant a sheep that was still 
nursing, what is the proof of that contention?  In fact, what is the 
evidence that weaned lamb under one year of age was called "young mutton" 
until around 1920?  As far as I have been able to discern, the USDA was more 
concerned about meat grades than the definition of lamb in 1920 ( 
http://meat.tamu.edu/grades.html ).  As for weaned sheep not being called 
lambs, there is a little document called Lamb Feeding Investigations 
1919-1920 ( http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/pr_histpubs/Pubs/SC088.PDF ) where in 
the lambs are definitely weaned.

Lambs can wean in as little as 3 to 4 weeks or as much as 5 to 6 months, so 
weaning may not be a solid indicator of "lambness."  So the question in my 
mind is what is the proof that a sheep is not a lamb after weaning.  The 
only evidence I've found so far is in Platina, and it does not provide a 
thorough definition of lamb.

Bear

> Adele asked me, and Bear answered her with:
> >>>>>
> Under USDA rules, lamb is a sheep under one year old, so calling
> hogget lamb is fraud.
>
> Bear
>
> > Are you thinking, perhaps of hogget (sheep 1-2 years old)?  Someone
> > told me that US domestic "lamb" is usually hogget.
> > I'll look around for a recipe.
> > --
> > Adele de Maisieres
> <<<<<<
>
> I was referring to the fact that I believe we discussed in the past,  that 
> medieval lamb was a sheep which was still nursing. The taste of  such meat 
> is much milder than mutton or what is often today called  "lamb". There is 
> an economic incentive to get the animal as big as  possible before 
> slaughtering it since that yields more meat and thus  more money. 
> Unfortunately, the longer this goes on the more the  "lamb" tastes like 
> mutton. Since it sounded like this lamb had not  come through the usual 
> channels I was just wondering if it was more  lamb or mutton. It might 
> affect what recipes you choose for it.
>
> Here is a message which I've saved which hasn't yet made it into the 
> Florilegium files.
> ------
> Date: Tue, 10 Jan 2006 05:18:50 -0800 (PST)
> From: Honour Horne-Jaruk <jarukcomp at sbcglobal.net>
> Subject: [Sca-cooks] mutton VS. lamb
> To: sca-cooks at ansteorra.org
>
> David Friedman/Duke Cariadoc said:
> > We also tend to do mutton recipes with lamb, mutton not being
> > that readily available.
> > --
> > David/Cariadoc
> > www.daviddfriedman.com
>
> Respected friend:
> Unless you are buying your lamb from a slaughterhouse,
> the chances are better than 95% that you aren't eating
> actual lamb.
>
> Supermarket lamb is about six months old at slaughter.
> Until the 1920s or so, such meat was labeled "young
> mutton". Lamb was originally  an animal under three
> months old. At that age, the flavor is so mild that a
> fat-free piece can't always be identified as lamb in a
> taste test, even by professional chefs.
>
> (This is one of my hobby-horses - when names stay the
> same but the object they're talking about changes.
> Purple carrots, anyone?
>
> Yours in service to both the Societies of which I am a member-
> (Friend) Honour Horne-Jaruk, R.S.F.
> Alisond de Brebeuf, C.O.L. S.C.A.- AKA Una the wisewoman, or That Pict
> ---------
>
> Stefan