Proteins with Potential II: Lamb

When it comes to eating lamb, Americans are real laggards. Per capita consumption in the US is less than one pound per year, which pales in comparison to, say, New Zealand with a whopping 57 pounds per capita or Ireland with a robust 20. In fact, the American Lamb Board reports that 40% of us have never even tried it, which indicates that this protein has nowhere to go but up.

And up seems to be the operative direction, as lamb is suddenly sizzling on menus. As with duck, a combination of factors favors its increasing usage. Price volatility in the beef market plays a major role. Equally important are the creative initiatives of chefs, who are working overtime to make lamb accessible, and the openness of diners, who are willing to give these culinary creations a try. As a result, lamb is the hottest thing going on the center of the plate.

• Its presence on burger menus has been a major contributor to its new-found trendiness; burgers are an unintimidating point of introduction for many diners. Virtually all better-burger meisters offer a version, like Yeah Burger in Atlanta, which features an all-natural Lamb Burger with house-made basil mayo. The Greek Lamb Burger with goat cheese and red-pepper aioli is the second best-selling burger on the menu at Brick House Tavern + Tap, where it succeeded the equally popular lamb meatballs. And Greek Lamb Sliders with tzatziki sauce and feta are popular at the Maryland-based Silver Diner chain.
• It’s appearing on sandwich menus, too, as with the Roasted Lamb Sandwich with mint pesto and burrata cheese at Ford’s Filling Station in Culver City, CA, or Lamb Pita with tzatziki at the Little Greek chain.
• It provides an unexpected twist in dishes like Lamb Pastrami served with peach mostarda at Glady’s in Brooklyn or Slow-Roasted Stuffed Lamb Belly plated with farro salad at SPQR in San Francisco. At the Fado chain of Irish pubs, Pulled Lamb & Peppercorn is a topping for French fries, and at Lola Bistro in Cleveland, Lamb Heart is served with garbanzo beans and heirloom carrots.
• It goes uptown at Telegraph in Chicago, where Ash-Rubbed Lamb Saddle is accompanied by cauliflower/anchovy purée and pickled shallot. By contrast, it’s straightforward and comforting at Lola in Seattle, where it’s seasoned with Greek oregano, rosemary and olive oil.

While lamb won’t seriously threaten the dominance of chicken and beef, its rising popularity doubtless provides satisfaction to lamb producers and offers an ironic counterpoint to the nasty Range Wars of the prior two centuries, when cattlemen and sheepherders battled bitterly--usually to the detriment of the sheepherders. Times have changed, and now lamb, which is totally in tune with contemporary demands for sustainable, grass-fed proteins, is finally coming into its own on American bills of fare.

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