[Sca-cooks] mutton VS. lamb

[marilyn traber 011221]

> 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. 

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. A 6 month old lamb, then, 
would still be sexually immature, and therefore still a lamb. Wethers would 
have reached sexual maturity (have to be sexually mature to be castrated 
conveniently) and are the most frequent sheep on our table, since keeping the 
ladies allows one to both have more babies, and wool. Rams, like any other 
intact male, then to be strong flavored and much tougherthan ewes- a function 
of their testosterone.

Phlip