The article is talking about mutton as different than lamb. A thing that most of the discussion thread seems to have missed, presumably having a pre-existing notion that lamb and mutton are synonyms and not making it past the title?
> Mutton has less tender flesh and a stronger flavor than lamb, which comes from sheep that are less than a year old. (Meat from sheep aged one to two years is generally called “yearling” in the US, and “hogget” elsewhere around the world.) That stronger flavor lends itself to curries, stews and “value-added” products such as spiced sausages, says Wortman, “so most of our mutton goes into value-added products or into specialty ethnic markets at this point.
But also, no, lamb I think lamb was not as popular in the USA in the 1990s as American sitcoms apparently gave you the idea of, although it wasn't unheard of. It's probably less popular now than it was then.
Mutton has been pretty unheard of in the USA since the 1950s, as discussed in teh article.
> Mutton has less tender flesh and a stronger flavor than lamb, which comes from sheep that are less than a year old. (Meat from sheep aged one to two years is generally called “yearling” in the US, and “hogget” elsewhere around the world.) That stronger flavor lends itself to curries, stews and “value-added” products such as spiced sausages, says Wortman, “so most of our mutton goes into value-added products or into specialty ethnic markets at this point.
But also, no, lamb I think lamb was not as popular in the USA in the 1990s as American sitcoms apparently gave you the idea of, although it wasn't unheard of. It's probably less popular now than it was then.
Mutton has been pretty unheard of in the USA since the 1950s, as discussed in teh article.