From today's Lexington HeraldLeader newspaper in
Kentucky (http://www.kentucky.com/food/story/348438.html):
The new taste of Kentucky lamb
Farmers who raise hair sheep tout its milder flavor
By Sharon Thompson
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
It's likely that lamb is a meat that you love, or that you never touch.
For some, lamb is the traditional entree for
Easter Sunday. But if you shy away from cooking
lamb because it's something your family never
cooked, then take a look at the new American lamb for this year's holiday meal.
Many Kentucky sheep producers are raising hair
sheep along with, or instead of, the traditional
English breeds, and many consumers are raving about the milder flavor.
Traditional, or English, breeds of lamb have
large bodies that produce large cuts of meat.
The hair sheep, from Caribbean and African
breeds, have smaller bodies that produce smaller
cuts of meat and have a different and more subtle
flavor, LaRue County sheep producer Gil Myers said.
Hair sheep breeds do not produce wool, which
saves producers the cost of shearing, Myers said.
Two breeds, Katahdin and Barbado, are generally well-adapted to Kentucky.
Kay Coyd, secretary of the Kentucky Sheep and
Wool Producers Association, has a small flock of
Katahdin sheep, which she raises as breeding stock.
It's a hair sheep that was developed in Maine by
a breeder who wanted to get the quality and
growth rate and frame size of woolly breeds and
not have to shear them, Coyd said. He used some
hair sheep from the Caribbean, which are
originally from Africa, and cross-bred them with
different breeds of woolly sheep.
One selling point is that the meat of hair sheep,
particularly Katahdin, tends to have a milder
taste. There's no hard-core scientific research
that shows that, but it's a matter of opinion
that it's milder in flavor, Coyd said.
Hair sheep have less lanolin than wool lambs,
causing the taste of the meat to be slightly different.
Ray Bowman, executive director of the Kentucky
Sheep and Goat Development Office in Frankfort,
said even though Kentucky is a major
cattle-producing state, the lamb and goat
population is strong. The estimated sheep
population is 37,000 and holding steady.
In 2007, there were 83,000 farms in Kentucky,
and 1,400 of them were raising sheep, he said.
Bowman said the biggest impediment for lamb
growers is processing, although a processing
plant is in the works at Paint Lick. Bluegrass
Lamb & Goat, an organization of farmers, is
working to have the processing plant in operation
soon, which will make fresh lamb more readily available to consumers.
Nothing beats the taste and flavor of fresh
lamb, Myers said. Since it is a locally
produced product, consumers can be confident that it is a wholesome product.
Lamb chops and roasted leg of lamb are
traditional Easter dishes, but for St. Patrick's
Day, lamb is used to make shepherd's pie.
Conor McCarthy, chef at Wilson's of Keene, said
shepherd's pie dates to the 1700s. It was a way
to use up leftover lamb, and mashed potatoes were a convenient pie crust.
Most commonly today, he said, ground lamb or
beef is used to prepare the pie, and the added
ingredients can be basically whatever you have available.
Reach Sharon Thompson at (859) 231-3321 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3321.
{From Carol: f you think your sheep-selling
business could profit from an article like this,
why not ask your local newspaper to write one?
They all like to use local human-interest stories with a positive beat to them.}
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