Throwback Thursday: Lamb’s the jam, but there’s nuttin’ wrong with mutton

Mutton to see here: Mutton neck pot roast with rosemary, lemon and coriander, served with polenta. July 2024. (Photo: Tony Jackman)

By Tony Jackman

4 Jul 2024

Yes, yes, yes, we love lamb. But why does mutton get left behind when it has more flavour and is cheaper? And let’s not forget the ‘twee-tand’, which connoisseurs say offers the finest sheep meat of all.

There’s been a lot of focus on Karoo lamb in recent years, thanks to the ultimately successful bid to have “Karoo Lamb” certified as a Geographical Indication (GI), which means it now ranks in the league of such famous foods as Camembert de Normandie, Jamón Ibérico, and Aceto Balsamico di Modena.

That’s lofty company, and there’s much more in that vein in Professor Johann Kirsten’s view, who championed the cause for it to be certified from kick-off to conclusion. Give the man his due, he got there in the end. Talking of Prof Kirsten, after my recent comments about Karoo lamb certification, he wrote to say: “Yes, Karoo lamb is indeed seasonal and will not be available in dry periods or in certain periods of the year. Then farmers will just sell lamb, but if the GI thing matures farmers will get a massive premium for the real thing!”

Is this about pricing? This has been my fear all along: that certifying Karoo lamb as a GI will make it even less affordable, and, Dionysus knows, the prices of lamb are insane enough.

But, aside from the benefits of this certification, and whether or not we will have to pay more for certified Karoo lamb, where does it leave that elderly ewe living its life out on the farm, munching the same karoobossies that it did when it was young and more, shall we say, certifiable? If prices escalate, there’s yet more reason to seek out that old ewe. (Of course, ironically, were mutton suddenly to be in vogue, its prices would shoot up too, so there’s no winning.)

Things ewe need to know

The meat of the older sheep changes. It becomes denser, and consequently tougher. It also attains more flavour, so that the human consumer of its meat has to decide whether that enhanced flavour is worth the time that will need to be spent to cook it to tender deliciousness. Bear in mind that when we are talking about lamb here, we mean exclusively the meat of older sheep. “Mutton” is also used to refer to goat’s meat in some parts of the world, such as India.

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Mutton meat can be much stronger in flavour than lamb, and it is much fattier too, which is why mutton rib, with its masses of fat and slim bones, is favoured for a boontjiesop, for example. It just adds so much flavour.

Somewhere in between mutton and lamb there’s twee-tand, the lamb that has developed its second tooth. At the same time, its meat has become more toothsome: it has a stronger flavour than lamb yet still has that lamby flavour profile, but enhanced. Yet twee-tand is still tender enough to be treated like lamb in the kitchen.

Ask 10 Karoo farmers whether they prefer lamb or mutton meat, and I’d wager that seven out of 10 will put up their hands for mutton. I live in a sheep farming community and I hear this all the time. “We prefer mutton/skaap, we eat mutton/skaap.”

Veteran farmer Jeremy Harper wrote to say: “I have been farming sheep in the Karoo for nearly 40 years. In all that time I slaughtered perhaps five lambs for my own use. Far preferable are 2/4-tooth animals. Well fattened old ewes are also underrated.”

Richard Key wrote: “Well now, like the European method of honouring holistic regions. I used to be like-minded. However, I buy my lamb, or not lamb, as you would say, because it is a twee-tand animal, from a holistic veterinarian in Newlands (Cape Town) who farms in Hofmeyr, Karoo. The more fat, the more Karoo bossies the ‘lamb’ has eaten naturally, the more flavour it has. Give me young older animals over older baby lambs any day!”

Unlike in the big city stores, where the meat sections are packed with lamb cuts, our small-town supermarkets sell just as much mutton as lamb, sometimes even more.

The antipathy for mutton meat can perhaps be explained by the fact that mutton is sometimes described as a bit gamey, and of course there are many palates that are not fond of game meat. This, again, differs in the country areas, especially in an area (yes, such as mine) where the annual winter game cull brings plenty of meat into town, to the extent that it’s not unusual to be given a gift of a hunk of venison at this time of year.

Having said that, I would beg to differ. I don’t find mutton at all gamey, only more flavoursome than lamb.

And having said that too, let’s not jump to the conclusion that I do not love lamb. I probably eat more lamb than mutton. I adore it, eat it often and cook it just as often. But this does not mean we should eschew mutton. Life is better with variety.

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So, save yourself a few shekels and ask your butcher to find you some mutton. You may need to plan ahead, to give them time to order it in. Or stop and buy some mutton next time you pass through a small town. The butcher is likely to have some ready to cut for you.

And did you know that you can even braai mutton chops? Most city residents seem to think that mutton chops will inevitably be tough. Not so, just cook them high above low coals, slowly. You’ll get a chop with more flavour than those lam tjoppies.

[To braai mutton chops, such as the saddle mutton tjoppies in the main picture, keep the grid high above hot coals. Braai the chops with their fatty edges down at first (I usually line them up alongside each other and steady them; you could put bricks on either end). Then turn them on their sides and cook them on both sides slowly, turning often, until tender.]

In the meantime, I found a whole mutton neck in the fridge at my local Tams SuperSpar the other day. They’ve improved their butchery massively of late. Here’s what I did with it.

Rosemary and lemon are always good choices for mutton or lamb (unless you want that wonderful true karoobossie flavour), but I added coriander seeds this time.

Being mutton, this is a pot roast, so the recipe is very unlike any typical one for roast lamb, whether leg or shoulder.

I served it with the vegetables from the pot, and creamy polenta, which I treated much the same way as the meat; that is, finished with rosemary and lemon.

Kitty Malherbe, a lawyer, wrote to say: “Brilliant article on Karoo lamb GI certification to be sure! Now I know that the mention of lawyers may put most people off their food, but there is one lawyer who you’ll maybe want to do a short follow-up story on about the lamb certification; one of the lawyers behind the consortium. He is, wait for it... Lambert Botha. I kid you not. A brilliant trade practitioner and a great human being, so even if there’s no story, you’ll feel better about us lawyers after chatting to him.

“I really enjoy your posts, thank you. In a bad news world, they are a reminder that someone still cares about the good things in life and how they need protecting. Best wishes, Kitty.”

Lambert Botha, if you spot this and would like to have a voice in this discussion, you’re welcome to be in touch. – Tony

Finally, reader Barry Smalberger put it into perfect context: “I also prefer the firmer texture of mutton, without it being tough. Although hard to come by, the twee-tand skaap size seems to strike the right balance.

“Of course, when it comes to a rib on a fire, it’s a no contest; lamb can at times look and taste so anaemic. Oh, and shanks… shanks are nice, but properly made whole sheep neck, to me, is even better.”

And here we have it…

Pot roast mutton neck with rosemary, coriander and lemon

Mutton to see here: Mutton neck pot roast with rosemary, lemon and coriander, served with polenta. July 2024. (Photo: Tony Jackman)

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

1 whole mutton neck

⅓ cup butter

Juice of 1 lemon

3 rosemary sprigs

Salt and black pepper

3 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 celery stalks, diced

3 leeks, sliced

2 Tbsp crushed coriander seeds

1 litre of good lamb or chicken stock

For the polenta:

1 cup of polenta grains

4 cups of water

⅓ cup butter

1 garlic clove, chopped finely

2 rosemary sprigs

Zest of 1 lemon

Salt to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

In a Dutch oven or other heavy pot that’s big enough, melt ⅓ of a cup of butter with the juice of 1 lemon and 3 rosemary sprigs. Infuse on a low heat for the butter to attain the rosemary flavour. Discard the rosemary.

Brown the neck on all sides in this flavoured butter.

Season the joint all over with salt and black pepper.

Dice 3 large carrots, 2 celery stalks and 3 leeks. Put them around the joint. Season them with salt and black pepper too.

Sprinkle 2 Tbsp crushed coriander seeds over.

Add 1 litre of good lamb or chicken stock (or mutton of course), and bring to a boil.

Put a lid on the pot and put it in the preheated 170°C oven.

Roast for about 4 hours or until the meat is fall-off-the-bone tender.

For the polenta, in a small pot, melt ⅓ cup butter with 1 finely chopped garlic clove, 2 rosemary sprigs, the zest of 1 lemon and a touch of salt. Steep for a few minutes. Discard the sprigs.

To a pot, add one part polenta to four parts water. Stir. Bring to a boil and cook rapidly, stirring continuously, until the polenta is fulsome.

Pour the flavoured lemon butter into it and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve chunks of mutton neck, pulled from the bone, with vegetables from the pot and polenta. Spoon pan juices over. DM

Tony Jackman is Galliova Food Writer 2023, jointly with TGIFood columnist Anna Trapido. Order his book, foodSTUFF, here

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.

This dish is photographed on a plate by Mervyn Gers Ceramics.

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