From chocolate bunnies to neon-colored eggs to hot-cross buns, the staples of Easter are everywhere this week, reminding the faithful that the day Christ rises is almost come.
But you won’t find the most meaningful of Easter symbols in the drugstore or the bakery – you’ll find it at meat counters and in local restaurants. Nothing says Easter quite like lamb.
Jesus is often referred to as the Lamb of God because ancient Jews used lambs as a sacrifice for their sins. While many American homes will boast a succulent ham on their tables this Sunday, lamb is considered the quintessential Easter meal the world over because a sacrificial lamb was roasted and eaten at the first Passover seder (and some say, at the Last Supper).
Lamb and eggs also serve as universal harbingers of spring, the latter for their reference to the circle of life, the former because lambs traditionally are born then. And what the heck, lamb is fabulously tasty, whether in a simple, long-simmered stew or touched by a garlic-inflected marinade and cooked swiftly on the grill.
Modern chefs say hold the mint sauce – that sweet and piquant accompaniment of our childhoods – because Colorado’s lamb is delicate and not at all gamey, so there’s no need to mask the flavor.
“In the spring, we’ll do a Frenched rack of lamb with couscous and a balsamic gastrique,” said executive chef Ron Sutton of Edgewater Grill in the DoubleTree Hotel. “Lamb is a consistent seller.”
His customers identify lamb with Colorado – our state is one of the country’s top-five producers – and want to go home having tasted it here.
In fact, the Four Corners has its share of farms and ranches that breed sheep and sell both the wool and the meat. The natural grasses they graze on are nutritious, and sheep can withstand both the mountainous geography and Colorado’s semi-arid climate.
Lambs usually are born in late March and early April and sold when they’re 8 months to a year old. They’re not considered mutton for another year, but most meat departments and restaurants won’t buy lamb older than 13 months because the flavor becomes stronger and the meat tougher.
“You definitely want that year-lamb,” said Denise Stovall of Local Brand Farms Co-op. “They’re a little bit sweeter.”
Stovall raises a small herd of Suffolk-Hamsphire sheep on her Hesperus farm and sells it locally. Raising a lamb to even its year-old maturity can be a trial, she says, because they’re prey for coyotes, mountain lions and dogs. They’re also susceptible to dying from disease, foul weather and difficulty suckling.
Stovall got her start raising sheep when her children were in 4-H and she came home to find her 8-year-old son muddied but exhilarated. He had snuck out of the house to ride sheep at the rodeo and liked it so well he was determined to raise his own. Today, Stovall keeps 14 sheep that produce from 14 to 20 lambs a season.
Lambing season is right now, and local farmer John Vogel has spent more than one sleepless night seeing his newborns through.
“We had lambs this morning, we had lambs yesterday morning. You’re up a couple times in the middle of the night. That’s the most difficult thing,” he said.
Then he reconsidered.
“The most difficult thing is keeping my wife from naming them and keeping them as pets.”
He raises a heritage breed called Tunis, known for its excellent meat. (He’ll soon deliver two lambs to Seasons Rotissserie & Grill, where a chef once caused a stir when he walked through the dining room with the whole animal over his shoulder.) They’re also recognized for their reddish color and are sometimes called redheads.
Vogel raises Tunis, he says, because the breed is endangered and he wants to make sure it survives. It’s also a sheep beloved of weavers for its fine wool, making it doubly valuable.
He takes the care and feeding of his herd seriously, giving them hay and grass for most of their lives and a bit of grain in the final month. In food-obsessed Durango, the quality of an animal’s food is as important as the quality of the meat itself.
“I raise mine free of industrial processing because I eat it, too,” he said. “Any meat I raise, I want to know what it’s fed.”
That care and the savory flavor it produces won over Seasons executive chef Dave Stewart, who contends he gets the best quality lamb to be found anywhere from the Four Corners. He and his fellow chefs butcher the lambs at the restaurant, which makes it more affordable.
You may find the spring treat on his menu as chops, of course, which can sell out in a single evening, but also as shanks and stews such as a lamb tagine. Lamb is a staple in many countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, from Greece and Spain to Lebanon and Morocco. Stewart pairs his dishes with flavors from the region – olives, lemons, tomatoes, garlic and pungent herbs like thyme and sage.
“Its main selling point is that it’s locally raised,” he said. “Its flavor and texture is sweet and delicate.”
Other restaurateurs buy local lamb when they can, but they turn to the world’s largest producers (and consumers) of the animal, Australia and New Zealand, to maintain a steady supply of chops, diners’ favorite dish.
Kennebec Café owner Barbara Helmer is one, saying her restaurant can go through in a day far more than the 12 to 14 chops a single lamb provides. She’s featuring a dish right now called scottaditto – Italian for burnt to the fingers – chops charred and eaten hot off the grill. For Easter, she’s planning to serve a slow-cooked lamb shank braised with celery, onion, carrots, tomato and stock and served with orecchiette pasta. She also offers chops marinated in balsamic vinegar, mustard and shallots and finished on the grill.
“I’ve tried to take them off the menu, but people become indignant,” she said. “Some people come just for the lamb chops.”
So come on Durango, give up your studly, steak-y ways this weekend and give Colorado’s second meat a try. Lamb – it’s what’s for Easter.
Reader Comments