British Food Fortnight - When to eat British lamb & mutton

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Buying British - Lamb & Mutton

British lamb & mutton is produced to some of the highest welfare standards in the world.

No growth-promoting hormones are fed to sheep in the UK and any antibiotics are administered only under veterinary direction.

Britain’s sheep industry is the envy of the world: breeding from livestock and genetics from our native breeds are much sought after by farmers in other countries.

British lamb & mutton travels less far from farm to shop so regardless of how carbon footprints are calculated it self-evidently has a lower carbon footprint.

Choosing British lamb & mutton means supporting British farmers whose work helps to keep the British countryside the way we want it to look: no sheep – no countryside!

When to eat British lamb & mutton

Although available all year round, British lamb & mutton are seasonal products.

Spring lamb is available from early Spring until the Summer. It is very tender but does not have as much flavour as lamb later in the year as it has not had as much time to graze. It should be cooked simply.

Autumn lamb is available from the Summer until December. It has had more time to graze and grow thus developing stronger flavours that can take more adventurous cooking.

Lamb from Christmas until the following Spring is called ‘hogget’, though few retailers and caterers use this term. Hogget has a pronounced flavour, which works well with seasonal root vegetables.

Mutton is at least two years old. Mutton is available year-round but is best, and most readily available, from October until March. It has a much stronger, gamier flavour than lamb.

For hundreds of years, mutton was the staple meat of the British household, considered superior in texture and flavour to lamb. Changes in farming and cooking lead to mutton’s sudden decline and for the last fifty years mutton has almost disappeared from our shops and restaurants.

The Mutton Renaissance campaign was launched in 2004 by HRH The Prince of Wales to support British sheep farmers who were struggling to sell their older animals, and to get this delicious meat back on the nation’s plates.

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