Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Lamb

Today is Easter Sunday, and in my mother's memory, I'm going out to eat a lamb dinner. 

I (used to) hate lamb!  I always hated lamb.  The smell of it made me nauseous.  My mother used to make it quite a bit.  She was an excellent cook, so I must assume she was making it correctly.  I can only remember coming into the kitchen, smelling the smells, and saying "Are we having lamb?"  And she'd say "Just dont think about it, you'll like it!"  She must have thought I was worried about the poor little animal.  NOT!  Never even crossed my mind.

I was once eating at a restaurant, in a Lord & Taylor, and I smelled lamb.  Seems there's a soup made with it, called scotch broth.  I tried it, again with her in mind, and it was acceptable.  Perhaps my tastebuds had matured? 

I learned the reason very few of adults eat lamb any more, from an Ag professor, who taught Sheep Production, in college.  It comes from World War II.    It seems our troops were given a lot of mutton (which is an older sheep and not as tasty) to eat.  When they came home, they wanted nothing more to do with war, or reminders of war, and so they stopped eating lamb altogether.   Therefore our parents didn't eat lamb, and the cycle continued. 

With the introduction of more people from the Middle East, and Central and South America, lamb has become just a bit more popular.  But it is extremely pricey in the grocery store.  Many stores carry it, but you have to ask for it, and it will be in their freezers, more than likely. 

If you want to try lamb, there are a few alternatives to actually buying it, and attempting to cook it.  A true "gyro" sandwich has lamb in it.  Or true Greek restaurants often serve it.  We're going to one this afternoon.  You can buy it in patties, or chops, or a roast.    But don't knock it until you've tried it.  More than likely, it's not been fed all the chemically altered feed that your beef or pork from the store, and should taste as close to organic, and natural, as possible.  Bon apetit!

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