Peter Elson: At Last, We Might Actually Get Mutton Dressed As Itself ; Super Fogey Prince Charles, Is Behind This

Summary

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WE ALL think we know when we see mutton dressed as lamb in the human sense, but what of the origin of the condition. Table-wise, when is mutton lamb and vice versa? As decreed by tradition, mutton is meat from sheep aged over two years old. For the best results, it should be hung for at least two weeks. Its flavour only becomes apparent after long, slow cooking. My theory is that much of the lamb we see advertised as such is, technically, mutton. Lamb sounds better than mutton, younger and more tender. When did you last see a supermarket aisle with signs (either big or small) advertising the presence of mutton? Mutton is simply not a supermarket word. And if it's not in the supermarket, then these days it's not on the plates of the nation. Also mutton sounds strangely foreign when put among our current favourite national dishes such as vindaloo, balti, chop suey, donner kebabs, pizza, crisps and chocolate. There could be consumer resistance to such an unusual sounding word as mutton.

Apparently, a decline in postwar wool prices has something to do with the gradual disappearance of mutton since the last war. The older ewes that survive now go to the ethnic communities who are not in thrall to faster food. It's all a far cry from back in 1861, when Mrs Beeton, in her seminal cookery book, wrote: "Mutton is, undoubtedly, the meat most generally used in families.

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Peter Elson: At Last, We Might Actually Get Mutton Dressed As Itself ; Super Fogey Prince Charles, Is Behind This

And both, by connoisseurs and medical men, it stands first in favour; whether its fine flavour, digestible qualifications...

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