Serious Eats
Colorado Lamb, Bred For Deliciousness
According to Ellen Sweets of the Denver Post, Colorado's lamb is a culinary star—the best lamb you can find anywhere. Pat Donahue of Memphis's Rendezvous, which serves barbecued lamb ribs, agrees; he says, "the flavor and texture are so much better than anything else we could find. No matter how you cook a piece of meat, the quality of the meat itself is where you start. We had to take lamb ribs off the menu for a while because we couldn't get Colorado lamb, but our customers had a fit, so we found someone who could deliver them and (the ribs) are back." But why is it so good?
"From a culinary standpoint, local lamb is important because we provide a better quality product based on genetics," says Kline, executive director of the Colorado Lamb Council. "We breed for meat production; the Australians and New Zealanders breed for wool. Meat quality is secondary.
"So what we get from imports is basically meat based on wool genetics and a smaller product. It costs less, but it's smaller and not as flavorful. We're breeding for higher quality meat."
Someone's going to be making lamb chops this weekend, and that someone is me!