LAMB, AND A LITTLE SALT - A BRIEF HISTORY OF EATING NEW ZEALAND LAMB

We all know that New Zealand lamb is sought after all around the world by home-cooks and discerning chefs.  It was made world-famous by that legendary journey from Otago to London back in 1882 when the first frozen meat shipment successfully crossed the seas.  National Lamb Day is all about celebrating that journey which brought New Zealand lamb to the world - it hasn’t looked back since.

But how have we been cooking New Zealand lamb during the years since that first shipment reached the other side of the world?  We now have a plethora of recipes, videos, cooking tips and advice on the best pairings for lamb right at our fingertips.  However, if we turn back the clock to 1882, how exactly did the home-cook prepare and serve lamb.  What did they turn to, to create delicious meals for their families before cookbooks and the internet became our guide on cooking delicious lamb?

I delved back in time to dig out information on the history of cooking with lamb starting with Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management – first published back in 1861! 

 It seems the love of a roast hasn’t changed much over time with her recipe for roast leg of lamb stating under ingredients; “lamb and a little salt.”  Of course, the method of cooking was over a fire back then with instructions to “draw it nearer the fire when nearly done to acquire a nice brown colour.”  The idea of browning the meat and adding salt hasn’t changed to this day and I was surprised to find that her recommendation for accompaniments was quite similar to the flavours we pair with lamb today - “send to the table with mint sauce, peas, spinach or cauliflower.” However, not a mention of a roast spud anywhere!

Her advice on roasting a forequarter of lamb differed slightly, guiding the cook “to obtain the flavour of lamb in perfection, it should not be long kept; time to cool is all that it requires and though the meat may be somewhat thready, the juices and flavour will be infinitely superior to that of lamb that has been killed 2 or 3 days.”

Perhaps this was because refrigeration was scarce back in those days, so using up as much of the carcass as quickly as possible was best practice – but as we know now, there is nothing better to develop flavour than ageing meat!

Mrs Beeton goes on to instruct that “lamb should be very thoroughly done without being dried up, and not the slightest appearance of red gravy should be visible” – I would imagine her reference to red gravy would be the juices which come out when you rest lamb, which of course we all know should go back into the pan for gravy making!

As I flicked through the pages of her book, I began to think that her recipes and guidelines for cooking lamb and quite often mutton, were actually quite palatable; braised loin of lamb cooked with bacon; shoulder of lamb stuffed with forcemeat, onions, celery, savoury herbs and bacon fat, and even lamb sweetbreads served with asparagus – very on trend! 

However, as I kept reading, some less palatable offerings appeared, such as sheep’s brains – “be careful to detach the brains from the head without breaking them”; sheep’s feet or trotters – “ensure the feet are cleaned well before cooking”; and instructions on how to dress a sheep’s head – “make sure it is well cleaned and soaked to get rid of any blood”.   

Not for the faint hearted, but this clearly shows that eating the whole carcass was a big part of cooking with lamb back then and the food rescue heroes and nose-to-tail champions of today would be very proud of their forebearers!

Next, I turned my attention to past papers searching for lamb recipes featured in the New Zealand media throughout the 1900s.  I was surprised to find some intriguing information on cooking lamb, including advice from international chefs.

The Sunday Star on 2nd October, 1937 featured some cooking advice by an unknown French chef.  This included lamb chops in batter, lamb souffles, lamb croquettes and a “curry of mutton as cooked in Saigon”.

It also seemed that lamb came to the rescue for that eternal question of what to have for dinner!  I discovered under the dubious heading “House wife’s Problems” that wondering what to have for dinner is not a new problem assigned to the busy 21st century household. 

An article from The Thames Star, dated April 1937 reads: “A question that is continually confronting the housewife is the matter of preparing new dishes for the daily menu…”  it goes on to list some ideas including a recipe for scalloped lamb – “cold lamb, butter, salt and pepper, tomatoes, milk, breadcrumbs.  Chop the cold meat finely, put a layer of it in a deep fire proof dish, add a layer of tomatoes sliced very thinly, then a layer of stale breadcrumbs. Add salt and pepper to taste, moisten with milk, break a few pieces of butter over the top, and bake for 20 minutes.”

Obviously the 1930s home cook was a bit more astute than we are today, being able to pull off a recipe with no specific quantities to go by, or at what temperature to cook the dish.  However, sounds like a good recipe to use up stale bread!

As the 20th century progressed lamb became mostly famous on kiwi dinner tables as a weekly Sunday roast. No recipe was necessary, just a joint of meat in an open pan, roasted in the oven with plenty of root vegetables surrounding it and the pan juices and scratchings used to make a gravy. 

Nothing was wasted, and a roasted leg of lamb could be spread out across three days to provide meals for a family; sliced cold the following day with leftover vegetables combined into a creamed sauce, and leftover cold lamb put through a mincer with some diced onion, stale bread and bound with an egg to make fritters or meat patties.  No need for food rescue heroes or summits on food waste back then – just common sense on how to save your pennies and make your meat go further.

The Lamb Cook Book by Paula Owen, published in 1959, gave me an insight into the recipes on offer heading into the 1960s.  Methods on how to roast, broil, pan-broil, panfry, braise, simmer and deep-fat fry adorned the inner cover and her introductory note stated “At best, today’s life is fast-paced and hectic for most of us.  The role of the homemaker is, therefore, more important than ever, because it becomes her duty to make her home a haven from the cares of the world… Paula goes on to say, “It is the author’s hope that the following lamb recipes and suggestions will serve as an inspiration to serve tasty, well-balanced meals.  Your family will benefit.”

How good to know that recipients of this book were being educated that New Zealand lamb was coming to their rescue to help carry out their home-maker duties!  Her book was divided into two parts; Lamb is Basic and Lamb Can be Fun Too!  I skipped to the fun section and found recipes with an international flavour; Chinese lamb skillet; lamb-rice Pilaf, curried lamb and Swedish lamb shanks.

The Lamb Cookbook by Paula Owen

Paula had included a whole chapter on sandwiches including everything from a lamb broiled toastwich to a page of lamburger sandwich variations.  She also included pairings of garnishes and relishes such as minted onion slices, claret spiced prunes and mint meringue pears.

Fast forward to the modern-day roast and lamb is still the quintessential choice to use for a kiwi traditional roast or celebration.  But now we have the choice of not just roasting in an open pan in the oven, but using our slow cookers to get a moist and tender pulled lamb or even cooking a butterflied lamb under a lidded BBQ for that extra smoky aroma.  So what will you be cooking on National Lamb Day?  For me I cannot go past my all-time favourite traditional roast using this amazing recipe here.

For more recipes click here and to find out more about National Lamb Day click here.