Latest news with #lamb
ABC News
2 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
Australian producer develops new marbled lamb in hope of rivalling wagyu
Marbled beef is synonymous with premium prices at high-end restaurants and lamb producers are working hard to compete for top spot on the menu. After years of development, Australian breeder Lambpro has created lambs with a high distribution of fat in the meat. General manager Tom Bull said they had reached a marbling score of 7 per cent or more. "It's that level ahead … it's really hard to go back to eating generic lamb once you start eating the really good stuff," he said. Marbling of meat changes the flavour when it is cooked, making it more tender and juicy. That flavour edge motivated the lamb industry to increase marbling levels, working for over a decade to make it happen. "Now the technology is really coming together, we can start to really pull out those top-end lambs," Mr Bull said. "The biggest advantage for us now we can do that, we can actually charge a lot more and we've got customers willing to pay." Mr Bull said average lamb marbling was 4 per cent in Australia, and he was hoping the meat would feature more prominently on fine dining menus as quality shifted. Joseph Abboud, chef and owner of Rumi Lebanese restaurant in Melbourne's Brunswick East, uses a lot of lamb in his dishes. "Lamb is a really important part of Middle Eastern cuisine," he said. Mr Abboud said using lamb with high levels of marbling had not been an option before. "I just don't think there's the spectrum of lamb where you have such a noticeable difference," he said. "A wagyu beef compared to just regular beef, they're almost different products." He said the 7 per cent marbled lamb "sounds great" and he would be interested to see what it would be like. "For us the flavour is the most important part of the lamb … we're looking for a more robust flavour and we tend to go towards an older lamb," Mr Abboud said. "A marbled lamb sounds like it could give us that tenderness which you get in the young lamb, but also that richness of flavour." One of the biggest sticking points for the production of high-end lamb has been consistency. "Chefs are used to having the likes of a wagyu and Angus where you might have a marble score of 10-plus and every piece of meat is the same," Mr Bull said. Lambpro developers have worked to calibrate their testing machines in the abattoir to sort and pack the meat into different marbling grades. But Mr Bull said the years of work had been worth it. "There's a real incentive to be able to breed a lamb that hits 7 per cent and financially you certainly get rewarded," he said. "We can sell racks at almost double what a commodity rack goes for." The hefty cost of marbled lamb would not deter Mr Abboud in his restaurant. "When you have something like that to offer, it's generally worth it because it is something tangible that's different," he said.
Irish Times
3 days ago
- General
- Irish Times
Roast lamb rump with jus gras, peas and mint
Serves : 2 Course : Dinner Cooking Time : 25 mins Prep Time : 20 mins Ingredients 1 lamb rump, approximately 500g in weight, boneless 40g butter 2 sprigs rosemary Sea salt 220ml chicken stock 20ml lemon juice 120g fresh or frozen peas 4-5 asparagus spears, trimmed Zest of 1 lemon 30g feta cheese Fresh mint leaves, to garnish Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove any of the silver skin on the lamb rump meat by carefully sliding a sharp knife under it and pulling it away from the meat. Heat an ovenproof pan on a low heat and place the lamb rump in, fat side down. Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes to render the fat, then flip and add the butter and rosemary and season with sea salt. Place the pan in the oven to finish cooking for 15 minutes at 180°C. Remove the pan from the oven and place the lamb rump on a plate to rest for 10 minutes. Keeping all the juices in the pan, place the pan back on the hob and add the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer on a medium heat, and cook for 3-4 minutes, allowing to reduce and thicken slightly to a glaze. Then remove from the heat and finish with a squeeze of lemon juice. Place a small saucepan on the heat and add some freshly boiled water from the kettle. Add the peas and asparagus and blanch for two minutes on a high heat, then strain. Cut the asparagus spears into bite-size pieces and add them and the peas to the pan to toss in the glaze. Cut the lamb into 2cm-thick slices and on top of the veg in the pan. Finish with some lemon zest and crumbled feta cheese, and garnish with fresh mint leaves.
Telegraph
7 days ago
- Telegraph
Catalan spinach salad
I've had this dish loads of times in the Catalan region of Spain – sometimes as a starter, sometimes as a veggie side or even as part of a tapas spread. It's super simple to throw together and packed with fruity, nutty textures. It also goes brilliantly with grilled lamb chops or a nice meaty piece of fish. Plus soaking time
ABC News
16-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Farming family breaks national lamb price record at Forbes
A farming family from central west New South Wales has set a national record lamb price, selling a pen of heavy lambs for $454 per head. The McMahon family, from Tullamore, sold a pen of 43 second-cross lambs for the record price at the Forbes sheep and lamb sale on Tuesday. Archie McMahon, 11, and his eight-year-old brother Freddie are often helping in the sheep yards on their family farm and were ecstatic to hear their hard work paid off. Archie was at the saleyards hoping the lambs would attract a high price. "It was kind of nerve-racking because we didn't know if we were going to break the record or not," he said. The lambs, which were between 85 and 105 kilograms and shorn 10 weeks ago, had been in the on-farm feedlot for four months. They were sold to Southern Meats at Goulburn. The boys' father, Ross McMahon, described the current high prices as a "once in a lifetime" opportunity for lamb feedlotters. "We've had some hard years feeding lambs when you're not making much [money] or not making anything," he said. It was a red-hot sale at Forbes with the lamb price record broken twice in the space of 20 minutes, surging past the previous high of $440.20 per head, set at the Wagga Wagga sale last Thursday. The prices have risen since May, driven by a supply shortage of good-quality heavy lambs, drought and a strong appetite for Australian product overseas. In the past six weeks, the national record has been broken more than seven times at saleyards across Victoria and New South Wales. Mr McMahon said up to 20,000 lambs were turned off from the family's feedlot each year, mostly targeting a weight of 25kg for the domestic supermarket trade. This year, 100 were held back longer on feed at the insistence of Archie and Freddie. "They put a few sheep in the Dubbo Show Hoof and Hook competition. [These lambs] were kept back with them, and the kids wanted to try and get a record, and they did," he said. Archie said a lot of work went into preparing the lambs. "We had to put them in our big feedlot and feed them constantly every day," he said. "Clean out their water troughs and like, bring them into the yards once a week and weigh them to see if they were ready."
Irish Times
12-07-2025
- General
- Irish Times
Barbecue lamb kofta with pickled red onion
Serves : 2 Course : Lunch, Dinner Cooking Time : 15 mins Prep Time : 15 mins Ingredients For the pickled onions: 2 red onions, peeled 150ml red wine vinegar 50g caster sugar Pinch sea salt For the kofta: 200g lamb mince 200g pork mince 8g sea salt 2tsp harissa paste 1tsp ground cumin 2tsp ground coriander Handful picked flat parsley leaves Handful picked mint leaves Handful picked dill fronds 30g feta cheese, crumbled Greek yoghurt, to serve Start by making the pickled red onions. Slice the red onion thinly using a sharp knife or mandolin and place in a bowl. Add the red wine vinegar, sugar and a pinch of salt to a small pot and heat until the sugar has dissolved. Allow to cool, then pour the mix over the red onion slices. Cover and place in the fridge. Preheat the barbecue to a medium-high heat. In a large bowl, add the lamb mince, pork mince, salt, harissa, cumin and coriander and mix until evenly combined. Place a large sheet of parchment paper on a chopping board or work surface. Divide the mince mixture into four, then roll and mould each into a long sausage shape one by one on the parchment. Carefully place the skewer through the middle of each kofta and roll lightly to smooth. Place the koftas on the barbecue and cook for two minutes until charring, then roll them 90 degrees and cook for two minutes, keeping the lid down in between turns. Do this twice more until evenly charred and cooked through – about eight to 10 minutes total, then remove and allow to rest for three minutes while you assemble the salad. Add the picked leaves, some pickled red onion and the feta cheese to a mixing bowl and mix lightly by hand. Lightly drizzle with some olive oil, then serve in a small bowl alongside the barbecue koftas, with some yoghurt on the side.
