Digging In: Why Don’t Americans Eat Mutton? - Modern Farmer

Mutton requires a masterful chef to make it appealing. If it's cooked wrong then all the wrong flavors are amplified and none of the good ones present. It's rare in the states to find a restaurant that serves it, and very rare to find one where it's prepared correctly.

I remember it was somewhat available in the late 1970s and early 1980s where I grew up in New England. Its availability was sporadic but my mom bought some if she saw it. I've eaten it. Not my favorite thing. There are other countries where it is not marketed, either, for example where I live now, in Spain. Lamb that is younger than what we can buy in the USA is a tradition. At Christmas it's popular to roast a whole suckling lamb and there are restaurants that specialize in serving it. It's about the only sheep-related meat you'll find here. Not a gram of mutton to be found anywhere. There are plenty of sheep, of course. I think here when sheep die or are slaughtered they wind up being turned into pet food or something.

It’s popular in the Navajo Nation, fry bread mutton sandwiches at every flea market. It has a very strong flavor that can be off putting to people who never ate it as a child. I’ve had it several times and it’s okay but not my first choice if Im paying for a meal.

It’s popular in the Navajo Nation, fry bread mutton sandwiches at every flea market. It has a very strong flavor that can be off putting to people who never ate it as a child. I’ve had it several times and it’s okay but not my first choice Im paying for a meal.