Lamb Meat

The meat of domestic sheep, Ovis aries, is known as lamb, hogget, and mutton, or simply sheep meat. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. Hogget is the second-year meat of a sheep. Mutton comes from older sheep. Most Western countries prefer lamb’s mild flavor, whilst many Middle and Far Eastern countries prefer mutton’s richer flavor.

Lamb is the most expensive portion of meat, and sheep meat has increasingly been sold merely as “lamb” in recent decades, blurring the previously established distinctions. Forequarter, loin, and hindquarter are the most common cuts of lamb. The neck, shoulder, front legs, and ribs up to the shoulder blade are all considered to be part of the forequarter. The back legs and hip make up the hindquarters. The loin includes the ribs between the two. Lamb is also widely marinated and roasted on a skewer (shish kebab) or prepared with local vegetables in the cuisines of Greece, Turkey, and the Middle East. Kibbe, a ground lamb, and cracked wheat stew is a traditional Middle Eastern cuisine.