Why Lamb Rules!

As a result of a desk-side meeting with food editor Todd Coleman last fall, subsequent pitching and arranging for staff to attend the Taste of Vail's lamb cookoff and to visit the Etcheverry family in Idaho, the American Lamb Board has secured prominent coverage in Saveur's October issue dedicated to "Why Lamb Rules."

In this 22-page cover feature story, lamb's flavor is described as "supple and velvety, delicate yet rich," and the editors tell readers that while "restaurant chefs in America have long championed lamb," "home cooks in this country have traditionally prepared it less often than they have many other meats." The call to action of the lengthy feature is for this American readership to discover the versatility, cuts, flavor and purity of lamb.

American lamb is featured throughout the issue, notably in a four-page color feature entitled "A Shepherd's Life." Spending a day in the life of the Henry Etcheverry family operation, the writer describes how lamb in America is raised and the high quality standards and care given to the animals.

Additionally, a two-page cut chart introduces readers to the wealth of lamb cuts available in the United States. Taking the average home cook beyond the meaty leg of lamb and the elegant rib rack that get all the love in the United States, the chart encourages the use of square-cut shoulder, arm shoulder chop, stew meat, fore shank, neck slices, breast, rack, rib chops, loin chops, sirloin chops, leg and top round.

Eight recipes, as well as three simple rubs and marinades and four classic sauces, further illustrate how lamb can be prepared at home, stating that "lamb's distinctive flavor takes well to a remarkable variety of sauces."

Overall, this first-ever lamb issue of Saveur motivates its national readership to go out and buy, eat and enjoy lamb and pays homage to the way American lamb is brought from pasture to plate.

Reprinted from American Lamb Board

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