Gosh yes I'd forgotten all about scampi - haven't had it since I left the UK 15 years ago.I didn't know you could ever get it down here but the cheapness and size of fresh mussels is compensation - now there is a cheap meal, around $3.95 a kilo and all you need is some chopped tomatoes and bread - there's a meal for two for about $6 - quick, easy and healthy too!
rats123,
Oct 5, 12:59am
Try making mussels with coconut cream. Delicious.
next-to-normal,
Oct 5, 1:41am
would not mind a good mutton one day.they are hard to find, let alone a smoked one.lamb tastes too immature
davidt4,
Oct 5, 1:51am
We love mutton but I haven't seen it around here (Auckland) for about a year.I used to buy legs and shoulders from The Mad Butcher but they don't seem to stock them any more. I wonder why!
cookessentials,
Oct 5, 1:54am
Hogget is better than lamb as the lamb is too young to be very tasty. Hoggets are usually over a year old.
outlet89,
Oct 5, 2:11am
We love a bit of lamb, some nice backstraps or loins, I tend to get them from Farro. Delicious pan-fried, and so tender, you don't need to do much to them.
kay141,
Oct 5, 2:26am
I read an article the other day that stated it is all marketed as lamb until the 2tooth (hogget) stage. It never stated what happened to the older ones. I suspect, because of the prices, there are no older ones until they are unfit for breeding and then sold for pet food. So we have a choice, lamb or pet food.
buzzy110,
Oct 5, 4:37am
Lol. You should live in South Auckland. Our local P-n-S always has mutton and the one at Manukau does as well.
Now that I have some freezer space left I'll get on to Omarama Farms and buy a half of them. I will ask if they sell hogget and mutton as well. It will be an interesting exercise. I think (but I'm not really sure) that their meat compares favourably with non-organic ovine meat from the usual outlets.
rainrain1,
Oct 5, 7:22pm
The growth stage in between the lamb and mutton is called hogget, once it gets its second lot of teeth (2 tooth) it becomes mutton.
sarahb5,
Oct 5, 7:59pm
Weight Watchers doesn't like coconut cream but yes have had them that way before and they are pretty good - hubby still prefers tomatoes though
kay141,
Oct 5, 8:10pm
As the article stated, it is all sold as lamb until the 2 tooth stage. So what is available for most of the year is not actually lamb. . I think it was put out by the Meat Producers Board.
rats123,
Oct 5, 8:16pm
Whatever it is, it still tastes damn good but is too dear! :-(
kay141,
Oct 5, 8:48pm
If you think about it, what is in the shops and labelled as lamb today , is nearly a year old. Is that lamb!
micky_1,
Oct 5, 9:06pm
I read in the herald the other day some supermarket chains are now importing aussie lamb as it still works out cheaper, now THAT is wrong
sarahb5,
Oct 5, 9:13pm
Same happens in the UK - NZ lamb is far cheaper than Welsh
dezzie,
Oct 5, 9:31pm
That will be because actual "lamb" is scarce this time of the year, sheep are seasonal breeders and have their lambs in spring, so theres not many that are of killing size around right now, same reason we import some aussie beef over the winter as well, because theres a shortage over winter. I scan for "reduced" meat as well.
rainrain1,
Oct 5, 10:06pm
that would be hogget meat which would taste nicer than lamb but not as nice a flavour as mutton
otterhound,
Oct 5, 10:40pm
They were still not much dearer than that about 7 or 8 years agoI just love shanks and cannot believe the cost of them now.It's since the slow braised lamb shanks etc became popular that the price has skyrocketed.We kill our own so I eat lamb, or mostly hoggett, very regularly.Couldn't afford to pay supermarket prices for it though.
rainrain1,
Oct 5, 11:00pm
Mutton is used in NZ for small goods now. Maybe you could con your butcher into selling you a piece before he makes the sausies and savs.A lot of the mutton goes overseas, there is demand for it even up until 8 or so yrs old.Some is going away in whole carcass form this year, possibly due to price rise, but most is cut before it goes
micky_1,
Oct 6, 4:43am
just beeninto our local New World and low and behold they have Lamb,Mutton and Hogget
kuaka,
Oct 6, 6:23am
micky - but can you afford it, or is it "need a second mortgage" price!
speckle77,
Oct 6, 9:04am
I have found lamb, bone in for $4.99 a kg here (Hamilton) at supermarket, done in kg - ish packs. Chops etc type. Not bad at all, got 2 packs when i saw it about a month ago, have seen it regularly since then.
moetus,
Oct 6, 9:17am
Hi, Only lamb I have had was lamb mince.Maureen
kuaka,
Oct 6, 9:25am
Good grief, that's cheap.A couple of years back our local supermarket used to sell lamb "scraps" ('cos that's all they were) for $2.99kg.If you could be bothered to buy $5 worth, and carefully cut all the fat and bone off them, you could end up with a reasonable amount of meat to actually do something with.Course all the "poor" people snapped them up and the last time I saw them, they were $7.99kg.Not really a cheap meal when you end up with a heap of fat and bone, and it takes you all afternoon to actually pick the meat off them.
books4nz,
Oct 6, 10:26am
Would you post which supermarket that is please! Thanks.
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