Leg of mutton

“ Hash of mutton is wholesome food, and it should be eaten as such without further question. If Providence had meant it to be tasty as well, He would have made His intentions as plain as in the case of roast pheasant.”
“Lottie will tell you that I made no face at the mention of hash of mutton,” said Fanny. “What does it signify whether one sits down to a simple platter of mutton hash or a great dinner such as father gets at Mr. Thrale’s? A pair of geese, a leg of mutton, a tongue, a rib of roast beef and a brace of pheasants, with two or three dishes of fish, and for Dr. ”

“ A gentleman living in Meadow Lane, in Leeds, bought a leg of mutton at the shambles, and requested that it might be sent home immediately. Mary, ever on the watch for her prey, hastened to the bridge over which the butcher's boy had to pass, and when she saw him approach, made towards him in a great hurry, pretending she was the gentleman's servant, scolded the boy for being so long upon the road, and taking the mutton by the shank, gave him a slap on the back, telling him she would carry it home herself. ”

“ Partington—who married my father's sister, and lived many years chairman of quarter sessions at Offham, among the South Downs, near Lewes—there was a man who understood mutton! A little silver saucepan was placed by his side when the leg of mutton, or sometimes two, about as big as fine fowls, were placed in one dish before him. Then, after the mutton had been cut, the abundantly flowing gravy was transferred to the saucepan, a couple of glasses of tawny old port, and a quantum suff. ”

“ If there be a cold room where meats can be hung, a leg of mutton can be used for several meals. Cut off about one third for a roast. In about two or three days cut off a thick slice, to be breaded and fried, and served with tomato sauce. In four or five days the remainder of the leg can be roasted. The leg of mutton that one can get small enough for this purpose will probably be what butchers call yearling lamb. It is not possible to get the best kind of beef or mutton in so light a weight that it can be used to advantage in a small family. ”

“ Mutton, mut′n, n. the flesh of sheep: an old Anglo-French gold coin impressed with a lamb: (slang) a loose woman, hence illicit commerce: a sheep.—n. Mutt′on-chop, a rib of mutton chopped at the small end for broiling or frying.—adj. like a mutton-chop (of whiskers cut round at the ends) .—ns. Mutt′on-cut′let, a steak cut usually from a leg of mutton for broiling or frying; Mutt′on-fist, a coarse, big hand; Mutt′on-ham, a salted leg of mutton; Mutt′on-head, a heavy, stupid person.—adj. Mutt′on-head′ed, stupid.—ns. Mutt′on-sū′et, the fat about the kidneys and loins of sheep ”

“ Who could trace a leg of mutton after it was cut down and eaten? No wee pawns for joints or beefsteaks, and then the omnivorous gentry are generally so hungry that they could not afford, however epicurean, to lay past, to get tender and high-flavoured, a gigot of wether mutton or piece of venison. Then as to catching red-hand, that was out of the question, for upon inquiry it was found that the thieves never tried a larder a second time. ”

“ By most butchers the shank-bone of a leg of mutton is weighed with the joint, the result being an increase of weight without value, but it is nevertheless an economical joint, as there is no waste in its carving, whereas against a loin must be reckoned the loss of meat left upon the bones, and that so often caused by an undue preponderance of fat. ”

“ Beyond the object of research, Peter never dreamed of extending his travels for that day, certain. A leg of mutton is not an indifferent article, well cooked, a matter somewhat different to amateur cooks; and as good legs of mutton as can be found on this side of the big pond, can be found almost any Saturday morning in the Pennsylvania market wagons, which congregate along Second street, for a mile or two in a string. ”

“ Price’s cottage, and walked in to find the kitchen full of a delightful aroma, and a fine leg of mutton just being taken from the roasting-jack by Esmeralda and placed on the table, which was already adorned with a saucer containing pickled walnuts.
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Miss Bretherton knew better than to say, “That’s my leg of mutton.” Our village understands all about “having the law on ’un,” if anyone upsets their feelings in any way. Therefore, swallowing hard, and determining for the hundredth time not to lose her temper, she said, “Where did you get that leg of mutton from, Mrs. Price?” ”

“ In cold weather a leg of mutton improves by being hung three, four, or five weeks.
When meat is hanging, change its position frequently, to equally distribute the juices.
There is much more injury done by admitting visitors to invalids than is generally supposed.
Matches, out of the reach of children, should be kept in every bedroom. They are cheap enough.
Apple and suet dumplings are lighter when boiled in a net than a cloth. ”

“ You must know that once upon a time a man was seated before the kitchen-fire watching a leg of mutton! His dog was seated near him!
Mr. Fernandez (in an undertone—as himself) . Go away!
Usher (ignoring the interruption) . The dog seized the mutton, and the man cast the stool after him—thus it was said that two legs, finding four legs had stolen one leg, threw after him three legs! Ha! ha! ha! You will see two legs—the man—four legs, the dog—one leg, the mutton—and three legs, the stool! ”

“ The following passage from David Copperfield is an account of how an underdone leg of mutton was made palatable after it had come to the table. No subject could be simpler, and yet it is treated in so lively a way that it is very entertaining.
There was a gridiron in the pantry, on which my morning rasher of bacon was cooked. We had it in, in a twinkling, and immediately applied ourselves to carrying Mr. Micawber's idea into effect. The division of labor to which he had referred was this: Traddles cut the mutton into slices; Mr. ”

“ Of mutton the leg is most economical, though the shoulder is generally lower in price. Breasts of mutton are sometimes sold at a very low price, and may then be cheap for stewing or braising. On the whole, the fillet is probably the most economical joint of roasting veal; the breast is better fitted for stewing, but it should be considerably lower in price than the leaner and less bony joints. ”

“ Weller, and requests the pleasure of his company this evening, to a friendly swarry, consisting of a boiled leg of mutton with the usual trimmings. ”

“ Short wool and fine mutton generally go together, and in most of the best mutton races the face and shanks are coloured black, brown or grey. The Down breeds have all roamed over sweet and scant herbage for centuries, and have acquired a muscular development and fineness of fibre common to them all. The long-woolled races above described have developed heavier fleeces, larger frames, and coarser flesh by grazing on rich lowlands, and by artificial feeding in winter. They lay their fat on externally on their backs and loins, and never handle so firmly as Down or Forest-bred sheep. ”

“ Nobody knows anything about mutton in these days, for the very sufficient reason that there is no mutton worth knowing anything about. Scientific breeding has improved it off the face of the earth. The immature meat is killed at two years old, and only we few survivors of a former generation know how little like it is to the mutton of former days. ”

“ Sex too is important. Wether mutton, or the flesh of the castrated male, is in the highest repute, although scarcely superior to young female mutton. Rams are always coarse in flesh and of inferior value after six months old, and acquire a strong flavour. Ewe mutton is also inferior, not on account of its age, which is generally only three or four years, but because bearing and suckling lambs dries the flesh and renders it less juicy and palatable. ”

“ The two classes of long-woolled and short-woolled sheep differ in the following points:—
Age has a great deal to do with the quality of meat, as is well shown by the expression "four-year-old mutton." This is considered the age for producing the highest quality of dark-grained tender flesh, but the exigencies of modern farming have rendered it necessary to lower the age, and most mutton is now killed at from ten to sixteen months old. In parks and demesnes it is still usual to hold back the smaller wethers to grow slowly into mutton for the private table of their wealthy owners. ”

“ The mutton-eater is eupeptic. His dreams are airy and lightsome. Somnus descends smiling to his nocturnal pillow, and not clad in the portentous panoply of indigestion, which rivals a guilty conscience in its night visions. The mutton department of Quincy Market is all that it should be.
Next we come upon "fowl of game," wild ducks, pigeons, etc.—What has become of those shoals of pigeons, those herrings of the air, which used in the gloom and glory of a breezy autumnal day to darken the sun in their flight, like the discharge of the Xerxean arrows at Thermopylæ? ”

“ One can easily imagine him in spring and summer fossicking in the cushiony vegetation of the sub-alpine meadows for insect larvae, or flying in and out of the bush in search of honey and fruits; while in autumn and winter he would be searching for insects among the crevices of the rocks or eating the berries of the forest. Now that he has taken to sheep-killing much of his spare time is used in worrying the sheep, and in winter the mutton must make a welcome addition to his scanty larder. ”

“ The memory of man supplies no recollection of so wet a season as from September 1824 to March 1825; it produced the rot in sheep to an alarming extent. In consequence of the animals being killed in this disease, the mutton is unwholesome for human food, and produces mortality even in dogs. The newspapers relate that such mutton given to a kennel of dogs rendered them fat, till on a sudden their good looks declined, they became lean, and gradually died, without any other cause being assignable for the mortality, than the impure flesh of the sheep. ”

“ We need pickles nowadays to make Wednesday’s cold mutton please our Friday’s appetite; and I can remember the time when to call it red venison, and tell myself a hunter’s story, would have made it more palatable than the best of sauces. To the grown person, cold mutton is cold mutton all the world over; not all the mythology ever invented by man will make it better or worse to him; the broad fact, the clamant reality, of the mutton carries away before it such seductive figments. But for the child it is still possible to weave an enchantment over eatables ”

“ If a dog kills sheep, and them Newfoundlanders are most uncommon fond of mutton, I must say, he never attacks his neighbour’s flock, for he knows he would be suspected and had up for it, but sets off at night, and makes a foray like the old Scotch on the distant borders. ”

“ Of course, he cannot eat more than one, or part of one, and the others he slays from wanton cruelty. Mutton is naturally his standing dish, as it can be procured, if at all, in abundance, and with comparatively little difficulty; but he is not at all particular, and will eat Deer, Goats, Birds, and even Reptiles. But his favourite meat, curious to relate, is Dog, and there are many instances related of the eagerness and recklessness shown by Wolves to obtain this cannibal feast. “Wolves have been known to carry off a Pointer from a sledge going at full gallop. ”

“ The want of relish, perhaps the distaste, for mutton has served as an obstacle to the extension of sheep husbandry in the United States. The common mistake in the management of mutton among us is, that it is eaten, as a general thing, at exactly the wrong time after it is killed. ”

“ The grounds of this preference will be understood when I explain that English farmers who manufacture mutton as a primary product kill their sheep as soon as they are full grown, when a year old or less. They can not afford to feed a sheep for two years longer merely to improve its flavor without adding to its weight. Country gentlemen who do not care for expense occasionally regale their friends on a haunch or saddle of three-year-old mutton, as a rare and costly luxury. ”

“ To be in perfection, mutton should be at least four, or better five or six years old, but sheep of this age are rarely if ever, met with now-a-days, when they are constantly killed under two years. To know the age of mutton, examine the breast bones ”

“ If kidney be in it, a slice should be served as far as it will go to each portion. Care must be taken that the bone is well jointed. The butcher chops the loin between each vertebra. When big mutton is carved it gives a large chop, oftentimes more than the amount desired, but a chop cannot be divided without waste, or one portion being all the inferior end. It is therefore a good plan to joint a loin of mutton with a small meat saw, cutting any thickness desired. ”

“ These Americans hold mutton in the utmost contempt, and I have heard them say, people who eat it belong to the family of wolves. And many of them, who in the summer are sometimes short of meat, when their bacon is exhausted, would live on corn-bread for a month, rather than eat an ounce of mutton, veal, rabbit, goose, or duck. ”

“ Some cuts which seem inexpensive really cost more than they appear to because they contain large amounts of bone or waste fat. The difference between lamb and mutton is a question of the age at which the animal was slaughtered. Lamb is much more tender than mutton, is more delicately flavored and more expensive. ”