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Mutton's back on the menu
Feature
New-season British mutton has been available from the beginning of October and demand this year is expected to be up. Mutton is enjoying a renaissance in dozens of top restaurants and is available for sale from gourmet food businesses around the country.
In London, The Ivy, The Ritz, Racine and Ransome’s Dock will be leading the way. Outside of the capital, mutton will be available in a range of restaurants including Northcote Manor (near Blackburn), Ye Olde Bulls Head (Anglesey), Café 21 (Newcastle), The Foxhunter (Abergavenny), Quartier Vert (Bristol), and The Farmers Arms (Crickhowell).
For home cooks, high quality British mutton will be on sale from October to March in around 50 butchers, farm shops and mail-order outlets throughout the country.
For hundreds of years, mutton was the staple meat of the British household, considered superior in texture and flavour to lamb. Changes in farming and cooking lead to its sudden decline. Over a period of time, the British palate shifted its preference from mutton to lamb – particularly as frozen lamb from Australia and New Zealand greatly improved year-round availability and price. In the past 50 years, mutton has almost disappeared from our shops and restaurants.
Overlooked by a generation of food lovers, the unique taste of mutton is now regaining popularity as discerning cooks are increasingly demanding seasonal British food. Interest has been driven by the Prince of Wales, who has spearheaded the Mutton Renaissance campaign to get the meat back on British dinner plates.
Mutton has a rich taste, coming from sheep that have been reared for two years or more. The meat is usually hung for at least two weeks to ensure a full flavour and improved tenderness.
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, in his River Cottage Meat Book, says, “The word about mutton is starting to get around. Smart chefs are already putting it on their menus and a few enlightened butchers are beginning to market it as something rather special.”
To boost interest in British mutton, top chefs including Mark Hix, Brian Turner and Henry Harris have devised recipe ideas for home cooks.
“Mutton has an intense, rich taste and a unique texture that is quite unlike lamb,” says Harris, chef and proprietor of Racine. “Cooking with mutton brings a convenience that is often overlooked: a simple mutton casserole or tagine can be left in a low oven for a few hours. The flavour of the mutton mellows and sweetens during the gentle cooking and delivers an eating experience that is truly delicious.”
A great feast for four, this recipe is full of autumnal flavours. Try to find a dry cider made from a single variety of apple. Serve with a celeriac and potato puree and a glass of the cider.
Braised mutton chops with cider and root vegetables
Serves 6
Ingredients:
4 large loin or best end chops, trimmed of most of the fat
2 leeks sliced into 1cm rounds
16 baby turnips
16 baby carrots
16 shallots
1 tsp fresh picked thyme
black pepper
salt
Oil for frying
450ml dry cider
1 tsp Demerara sugar
1 tsp tomato puree
1 tbsp shredded flat parsley
Method
1. Heat a little oil in a frying pan and gently cook the leeks until lightly coloured and slightly soft.
2. Place leeks in a deep metal or earthenware casserole dish with tight fitting lid and set aside.
3. Now cook the shallots and the turnips in the frying pan until both are golden brown. Remove from the frying pan and keep to one side.
4. Dust the cutlets with plain flour. Gently seal the meat in the frying pan until well coloured. Do not burn the flour.
5. Place the cutlets on top of the leeks in the casserole dish.
6. Deglaze the frying pan with a splash of the cider. Add the tomato puree to this liquid, then the sugar to balance the acidity of the cider. Pour this liquid over the lamb.
7. Season well with salt and pepper and enough cider to just cover the cutlets.
8. Cover and cook in a medium oven for 30 minutes, then add the turnips, shallots and carrots and cook for a further 30–40 minutes.
9. Skim any fat off the remaining liquid, check the vegetables are cooked sufficiently, and adjust seasoning. Stir in the parsley.
Traditional spiced mutton
Ingredients:
Mutton joint (leg or shoulder)
ground black pepper
powdered thyme
ground mace
fine oatmeal
mutton dripping (or other fat)
cabbage
cider
Method
Bone the joint, rub it well with black pepper, a little powdered thyme, a pinch of mace and fine oatmeal – do not use salt. Wrap the whole in cabbage leaves, and cover in foil – traditionally the meat would have been thickly covered in mutton fat. Roast very slowly, allowing 20 minutes per pound of meat. Baste well at least twice during cooking and when basted add a cupful of cider to the fat in the pan. It can be eaten either hot or cold.
This recipe was a common way to prepare roast mutton in the UK until the war.
Picture caption: A taste of tradition – braised mutton chops in cider.
MyVillage 08th January
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