[Sca-cooks] Re: Sca-cooks Digest, Vol 32, Issue 33

[Honour Horne-Jaruk]

> > 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. 
> 
> I tend to disagree with you. Although the butcher
> definitions have changed, 
> species are considered juveniles until they reach
> sexual maturity, which in 
> the case of sheep, doesn't occur until 9-11 months.
Actually, most domesticated sheep 
breeds have begun puberty by the end of their fifth
month; many have completed it. It's standard breeding
age which is 9-11 months.
> A 6 month old lamb, then, 
> would still be sexually immature, and therefore
> still a lamb. 
Unfortunately, you are incorrect on two counts. Aside
from the above, the culinary definition of lamb was an
animal still at least partially nursing; that's never
the case with 6-month-olds.
> Wethers would 
> have reached sexual maturity (have to be sexually
> mature to be castrated 
> conveniently) 
Most sheep are castrated at two weeks or less. Even
surgical castration is done at three months.

> and are the most frequent sheep on our
> table, since keeping the 
> ladies allows one to both have more babies, and
> wool. 
Wethers have by far the finest wool, since there's no
hormonal problems or pregnancy-induced malnutrition.
By the end of our period, some flocks were
ewe-and-wether only, kept solely for their wool. The
practice became even more common in the 1700s.
> Rams, like any other 
> intact male, tend to be strong flavored and much
> tougher than ewes- a function 
> of their testosterone. 
> Phlip
Absolutely. Rank as a tank. Some died "in harness", so
to speak, but others were slaughtered for dog food or
to be sold to the poor.  But nowadays, "lamb" of six
months of age is considered the most cost-effective
compromise between minimum "rankness" and maximum
carcass weight. It's just that lamb recipes in our
period of study were intended for what are now classed
as 'baby' or 'weanling' lamb. (By the way- their
'weanling' was six weeks; ours is up to twelve.)

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