Mutton Ribs

I am continuing my tour of Texas barbecue joints and I found one item that was so good that it deserves a post just on it. That is: mutton ribs. 

I have had lamb ribs twice, once from a lamb that Andrew slaughtered, and once from The Fort in Morrison, Colorado. When referring to meat, in the U.K., New Zealand and Australia, lamb refers to the meat of a sheep that is under one year old, hogget is the meat of a sheep that is older than a year but has no more than two permanent incisors (teeth) and mutton is a sheep that has more than two permanent incisors. In the U.S., the term "lamb" is usually used for sheep of any age, the term "hogget" is not used and the term "mutton," only rarely used, refers to meat from a sheep over two years old. When we went to the Southside Market & Barbecue in Elgin, Texas (which I'll do a later post on) they had "mutton ribs" on the menu which Judy ordered.  They were the best barbecued meat I have ever eaten. 

The most obvious difference between these ribs and the lamb ribs I've had is the amount of meat - these were much, much more meaty. Mutton is supposed to be less tender and have a stronger taste than lamb. These ribs were extremely tender, but they did have a strong "lamby" taste that I absolutely loved. They had a nice outer bark, but what really set them apart was the moist and fatty meat - each bite was a moist gobule of warm, bursting, lamby flesh and juice. 

They were more meaty than any other ribs we had, the flesh was more moist and tender than any other ribs we had, and the flavor was more pronounced and distinct than any other ribs we had. I was so jealous of Judy's ribs that I had to go back and buy one of my own. 

It was not as good as Judy's ribs, but was still very good. I would travel back to Texas just to eat these ribs. If I had more mutton, I would be more of a glutton.