Issue Seven Spring
Lamb With guest chef editor
Peter Gunn

Contents

Editors’ Letters

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Editors’
Letters

 

I am constantly inspired by the innovation and drive of the Australian red meat industry and proud to be able to share its stories with you here.

In this issue, we visit 2018 Farmers of the Year, Tom and Phoebe Bull, who passionately believe that farming is about much more than what happens in the paddock. Driven by customer insights, cutting edge research and savvy marketing, the Bulls are paving a way to take lamb from a commodity to a premium product – identifying and breeding sheep for lucrative marbling traits.

Our guest chef editor Peter Gunn certainly made for a lot of laughs putting together this issue. Getting to know him and his team, the ins and outs of transitioning from a renowned monthly pop up to a fine dining restaurant, and his unwavering quest to deliver an experience that goes beyond just dining was definitely a highlight.

As always, this issue explores a range of venues, ideas and inspiration for you to remain informed, engaged and inspired by Australian lamb, its prospects and its place on menus today and into the future.

Enjoy. We sure did.

 

Mary-Jane Morse
Meat & Livestock Australia
[email protected]
@_raremedium

I came to Australia 10 years ago but haven’t had the chance to travel much. Coming on board as guest chef for this issue was so much fun but it also meant I got to get out of my day to day, experience different parts of Australia and meet so many awesome people along the way. I really enjoyed meeting and talking to all the different chefs at the cafes and restaurants we visited on our Roadies trip from Broadbeach to Bellingen. Just hanging out with them and learning about different ways they are using lamb as well as talking about their businesses was great and something I’d like to do a lot more of.

As chefs these days, most of the time we are just cutting meat out of a bag and we are missing out on so much of what actually goes into that meat before it gets to us. Visiting Tom & Phoebe Bull on their sheep farm and learning about all the science and technology that goes into the lamb they produce and how much work goes on every day made me realise just how complex it actually is. I really had no idea how much goes into producing this incredible lamb and it was really inspiring to learn and I think everyone cooking with lamb should make an effort to know more about where it is coming from. It makes me really value the produce and want to do a better job with it out of respect.

This experience has been a real eye-opener for me meeting and learning from so many professionals working in this industry, from the farmers to the butchers and of course all the great chefs. Lamb is such an iconic Australian ingredient that people already feel connected to but working on this issue, visiting the farm, our butchery masterclass with Troy at Meatsmith and all the tasty lamb we got to try along the way makes me feel even more connected and inspired and I hope it inspires you too.

 

Peter Gunn
Chef / Owner
Ides
@petergunn501

Copyright: this publication is published by Meat & Livestock Australia Limited ABN 39 081 678 364 (MLA).

Guest Chef Profile

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A chain-smoking bearded baker in an alley on a milk crate was the unlikely catalyst for a career that has taken chef Peter Gunn through some of the country’s best kitchens and into a two-hatted restaurant of his own.

“I did work experience at Nada Bakery in New Zealand and I just remember thinking – this is mental. All up since 4am, they were just these strange, strange people and you wouldn’t know that this dude constantly smoking with the beard from hell was producing these amazing pastries in a highly regarded bakery.”

“I don’t know why that appealed to me but I like that saying ‘not all heroes wear capes’ and this guy was just killing it. I like that you can just work hard, you don’t need to be the face of anything, you can just really get down and get stuck into a craft.”

And get stuck in he has. Gunn’s career playbook boasts some serious lineage – kicking off his Australian tutelage under Teage Ezard before a stint at The Royal Mail with Dan Hunter and finally, after three attempts, as sous chef at Attica for five years.

“I came to Australia 10 years ago and I just wanted to find some people that I could develop with and I eventually ended up working at Attica which is where I found the mentor that I’d been searching for so long in Ben Shewry.”

“Everything that he stands for is what I try and bring forth at Ides. Treating everybody with respect and treating all the ingredients, produce and everything you do in relation to your craft with respect – and doing it to the highest possible level.”

Service at Ides

Emerging from under the many-feathered wing of Ben Shewry to make your own mark is surely no easy feat – but with resourcefulness and determination, Gunn came out blazing when he launched the Ides monthly pop up while still working at Attica full time.

Well before pop ups were a dime-a-dozen, he found a way to creatively flex his own ideologies on food – and it paid off with the monthly events booked out eight months in advance and a lengthy list of chefs eager to work alongside him.

“It was really low key and underground but it was also very difficult and super challenging. We started prepping out the back of my shed, which we turned into this makeshift kitchen with stainless steel bench tops – it had a deep fryer instead of what would usually be a car jack. It was quite funny, very loose.”

"We popped up at rooftops, laneways, shitty little cafes and well-known restaurants but the Melbourne tram restaurant was our biggest. We prepared all the food beforehand and served courses on the tram as well as off the tram at tables set up at stops along the way. It was an exciting time but it started to get quite tough to think of new ways to continue down that track we were on."

“Spending time with somebody who’s put in many more hours than you on a particular subject or craft is unbeatable. We’re not butchers here, we’re trained chefs. Professionals like Troy Wheeler at Meatsmith are real craftsmen and making the time to go and get involved, you really can’t beat it.”

Preservice at Ides on Smith St in Collingwood

Having built a cult following of intrigued diners and a prototype for his vision of the Ides experience, the time seemed right to make his move and in 2016 Ides opened in its permanent home on Smith St in Collingwood. In a collision of parallel universes where upscale fine dining meets gritty suburban street, Gunn finally found himself at home.

“Ides evolved as a natural progression – we were running out of shit to pop up in, at or on and so it seemed like the right thing to turn it into something permanent. There was a lot of excitement in those early days and I try my hardest to keep that general feel alive through what we do today.”

“My goal with Ides is to be able to make my mum, who never goes to restaurants and doesn’t eat my style of food regularly, to make sure that when she does sit here, she is 100% comfortable. But at the same time, if you’ve got that dude that travels around the world eating three Michelin star, two Michelin star whatever – to have him come here and also be challenged by what we do.”

Caramelising lamb fat with a blowtorch

Reflecting the man behind the brand, Ides is rogue playfulness paired with fastidious focus – as contradictory as it is complementary, as honest as it is deceiving. Ides is an experience that not only reimagines fine dining; it convincingly breaks the mould and casts the diner into a world where anything is possible. Thoughtful nuances, spirited service, playful plating – and beneath it all quality food prepared in imaginative ways.

“We strive to serve something very high end but that sticks to the roots of where we are located and who I am as a person. At the heart, it is really simple. It is very unpretentious but it is quite skilful and layered and if you really dig deep, you will see that there is something really interesting going on. But I don’t like to say that,” he laughs.

“We’ve been open for three years, the guys who run the front have been here since the beginning and the kitchen team has a very low turnover of staff so we’re very comfortable in the environment. We’ve been through some extreme lows as well as some great highs in terms of professional criticism and praise and I think the skin is pretty thick now and the confidence is there.”

Gunn and junior sous chef Gary Kim at Ides

This confidence resonates throughout the restaurant from the calm precision of the kitchen and the eclectic mix of service styles through to the thought provocation and theatrical touches. It’s an intricately delicate balance executed by an intensely dedicated team. Yet, it would not be the Ides experience if it wasn’t somehow contradictory – and underneath this vein of quiet confidence is a culture where mistakes are openly encouraged. Even in the fast-paced, high-pressure environment of the Ides kitchen, Gunn believes taking time is the key to getting things right.

“I really encourage making mistakes. I hate it when people think too quickly – I think that sometimes in kitchens that can really screw things up. I encourage a little bit of slow thinking rather than just making a hasty decision, sometimes taking that extra ten seconds to make a move, you can benefit a lot from just slowing down.”

"I like to lead from within. I put a lot of responsibility on my guys and part of that responsibility is that I want them to take on ownership of the kitchen. I am always, always there for whatever they need but a lot of the time you learn a lot by making wrong decisions – I know I’ve learnt a lot that way."

Saltbush lamb glazed with lovage butter finished with cocoa nibs and a crispy lovage leaf served with a fried zucchini flower with rendered lamb fat and ricotta

With three years of Ides the restaurant under his belt, two hats proudly on the mantle and a genuine desire to not rest easy on his laurels – what is next for Peter Gunn?

“This restaurant requires a lot of attention and the constant progression forward requires a lot of presence. I am really into trying to take care of myself now, trying to be relaxed, trying to encourage the younger guys to take care of themselves also – to upskill outside of being here.”

“We’re not done – and I don’t know what done is but we’re just not done. At this current point in time the only thing that’s next is knuckling down here and continuing to improve the Ides experience,” he said.

Paddock Story

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To Tom Bull, farming is about a lot more than what happens in the paddock – the 2018 Farmer of the Year uses progressive breeding technology to advance genetic gain in his flock, improving profitability and producing a premium lamb product.

Tom, Phoebe, Hamish, Hattie & Eddy Bull with their Hampshire Downs at Kinross Station

Tom commenced breeding sheep in 1991 with the purchase of five ewes while he was still at school. Working his way through the supply chain from the abattoir boning room and a stint at Meat & Livestock Australia’s head office in Sydney, to playing a key role in the development of a set of eating quality standards for sheepmeat – Tom’s lamb industry knowledge is second to none and his dedicated commitment to advance it is truly inspirational.

His family owned and operated business LAMBPRO, based at Holbrook in Southern NSW, is the largest supplier of prime lamb genetics to the Australian lamb industry.

Producing the highest quality lambs at the lowest cost of production, the LAMBPRO breeding program is unrivalled for marbling and tenderness and its broad client base will this year collectively produce 800,000 lambs.

We took guest chef editor Peter Gunn to the newest arm of the LAMBPRO business – Kinross Station Hampshire Down – where the primary focus is on maximising the eating quality characteristics of marbling and tenderness to produce a highly marbled premium lamb product.

Kinross Station Hampshire Downs lamb at Meatsmith in Melbourne

“There is a lack of segmentation in the Australian lamb industry and whilst the beef industry has nailed branding and quality with its billion-dollar Wagyu and Angus industries – lamb is very much still just a commodity.”

71 of the top 100 rams in Australia for marbling are from Kinross Station

“Any export or domestic end user that we have dealt with that has a Wagyu product always asks ‘Where’s the lamb equivalent’ – and that’s what we are trying to develop,” Tom said.

The Hampshire Down sheep breed has consistent traits of producing highly marbled meat and currently dominates Meat and Livestock Australia’s national rankings for intramuscular fat (marbling). Leading the industry in marbling and tenderness, 71 of the top 100 rams (males) in Australia for marbling breeding traits are from Kinross Station.

“In our quest to establish the leading lamb marbling specialist program in Australia, we identified several Hampshire Down studs that had close links to known marbling genetics and a performance recording background.”

“Over a 12-month period, we purchased and combined five of Australia’s leading Hampshire Down flocks into a state of the art breeding program. We now own 50% of the Hampshire Down breed registered within Australia and are one of the few businesses that control both the maternal (female) and terminal (male) genetics which gives us a fair influence on the outcome of the end product,” Tom said.

At Kinross Station, the Hampshire Down breeding program is built on unique sire (male) lines within the Hampshire Down breed and is underpinned by stringent progeny (offspring) testing representing the largest commercial progeny testing in Australia.

“All the carcase data of the Kinross Station Hampshire Down lambs is tracked and entered into LAMBPLAN – the Australian lamb industry’s performance recording system. The breed not only now dominates marbling rankings nationally but is also unmatched in customer taste testing satisfaction.”

Five years of eating quality research at LAMBPRO has highlighted that the key control points for eating quality are maternal genetics, terminal genetics, nutrition, age and weight. Progeny testing for meat quality, DNA parentage tracking and industry benchmarked customer taste testing ensures the LAMBPRO program is underpinned with a high level of scientific accuracy.

Each year, LAMBPRO produces 8-10 lambs purely for the purpose of tracking performance and carcase traits then uses that data to inform business and flock decisions to ultimately improve the end product by understanding which breeding lines are the highest performing.

A Hampshire Down ewe with twin lambs at Kinross Station

“All growth and eye muscle data is collected on farm and recorded. Lambs are then processed at Thomas Foods in Tamworth then tracked from hoof to hook by the University of New England who extract both loins from the carcases for testing. One loin is used to measure PH, tenderness and intramuscular fat percentage and the other is used for customer taste testing.”

Lamb from Kinross Station where the focus is on maximising eating quality characteristics of marbling and tenderness

With the Hampshire Down considered a ‘rare-breed’ – there is significant opportunity for customers to relate the breed to eating experience – like Wagyu and Angus in the beef industry. Tom believes that the Hampshire Down will be that premium product in the Australian lamb industry – informed by insights and backed by research.

“Genetics can change industries and the identification of a few high marbling Angus sire lines in part changed the beef industry – the same could be said for the importation of Wagyu genetics from Japan. The marbling performance of the Hampshire Down breed has been immense and Kinross Station owns 71% of the top sires for marbling in Australia and half the registered Hampshire Down ewes in Australia.”

“With our Hampshire Down program at Kinross Station we are working towards delivering a consistent first class eating experience heavily weighted towards marbling, tenderness and loin yield. We are aiming to produce Australia’s highest quality premium lamb product that is backed by science and performance,” Tom said.

Considered a ‘rare-breed’ the Hampshire Down has breed brand recognition potential like Angus and Wagyu

Roadies

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It really ups the Roadies ante when your guest chef editor is an Audi ambassador and they loan you a brand new Q8 for the trip. Cruising in style, we went on a mission to devour delicious lamb dishes from Broadbeach to Bellingen stopping off along the way in Byron, Bangalow, Brunswick Heads and Woolgoolga.

 
This beautiful part of the world takes food seriously with provenance playing a big part of the story and feeding into that, a concerted effort to utilise a range of cuts.
 
With a fantastic range of techniques, styles and cuisines on offer from mouth-wateringly good Mexican by the Fleet team in Brunswick Heads, to tasty, technique-driven Japanese in a small country town, an epic house smoked lamb leg sandwich and a pie made using the entire lamb carcase – it certainly was a Roadies adventure to remember.

Menu

 

Spit Roasted Lamb Forequarter

The Lamb Shop, Broadbeach QLD

 

4.20 Whole Lamb Pot Pie

The Roadhouse, Byron Bay NSW

 

Smoked Lamb Leg Focaccia

Butcher Baker Bangalow, Bangalow NSW

 

Lamb Shoulder Roulade Burger

Anchor Kitchen & Bar, Woolgoolga, NSW

 

Miso Glazed Lamb Ribs

Qudo Café & Sake, Bellingen, NSW

 

Lamb Neck Barbacoa Tacos

La Casita, Brunswick Heads NSW

 

Cut Showcase

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Lamb Breast & Belly

 

HAM 5010

 

 

Lamb breast and belly is derived from the underside of the chest and accounts for around 12% of the lamb carcase.
Often ground for mince, lamb breast and belly is the brisket equivalent on a beef carcase and is actually a wonderfully versatile and economic cut. Consisting of layers of full flavoured meat and rich lamb fat, it is what is left on the carcase after the preparation of the major primals.

A well-exercised muscle with a good amount of fat, bones and sinew – it suits low slow cooking and packs a flavoursome punch. The meaty part of the cut is located between the bones and a thick layer of fat just beneath the skin – as it cooks it essentially forms its own confit resulting in tender, juicy meat every time.
 
It can be deboned, rolled and slow roasted; smoked as a whole piece and pulled; cured and spiced for lamb bacon or pancetta; or prepared into decadent individual ribs characterised by layers of fat and meat.
 
We threw the challenge out to Charley Snadden-Wilson, head chef at Etta in Melbourne, to create three tasty dishes using the lamb breast and belly.
 
Do you even belly bro?

Lamb Belly Bacon Carbonara

 
 
On a bleak day in Melbourne, this creamy umami flavour bomb was just what the doctor ordered. In fact, it has been hard to stop thinking about it ever since.
 
Charley packed lamb belly in a box and completely submerged it in salt for two days to cure then washed off the salt and hit the belly with some Applewood smoke in the Big Green Egg. Next, the belly was confit in a bag overnight at 80 degrees before cooling and dicing, reserving the delicious smoky stock from the bag for the emulsion in place of egg. A house made egg free pasta of 00 flour, water, salt and olive oil – lovingly hand rolled into cavatelli was the perfect chewy vessel to transport decadent mouthfuls of richly lamb flavoured belly bacon and silky smoky sauce.

XO Caramel Lamb Rib Set

 
 
Working on the premise that plates of share food are still a thing – Charley used the breast end as a whole rib set destined for a large sharing plate – although sharing them might be an issue.
 
Again, he turns to the Big Green Egg for a bit of smoke infusion before browning the rib set in a pan to caramelise. The ribs are then added to a caramel made from three parts vinegar, two parts sugar and salt to taste – then seasoned with chilli oil that emulsifies into the caramel. Topped with chicken stock, the ribs braise in the caramel for two hours until reduced. They are then stored overnight in the caramel allowing the flavours to infuse. For service, the ribs are warmed in the oven, glazed with the caramel and a house made ‘white boy’ XO and finished with garlic scapes.

Roast Lamb Belly, Sprouts & Macadamia

 
 
Roast lamb has always been and always will be an Australian classic – here Charley has dialled up the old school favourite and given it an Etta edge.
 
Whole lamb belly is salted and then roasted at high heat until it has some colour, then the temperature is dropped and the belly is cooked out until just tender but not falling apart. The belly is then portioned, seasoned simply with salt and rendered over a hot grill for service. Served with Brussel sprouts dressed in fermented tomato juice and a macadamia cream made from toasted macadamias blanched with water and simmered until thickened slightly before adding juices from the lamb and seasoning with salt and vinegar. Not your average roast lamb.

On The Menu

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From cafes to fine dining, raw preparations to slow cooked perfection, dry aged to deep fried – lamb is a menu staple that transcends seasons and styles and stands the test of time.

Lamb Rump + Belly with Lamb Fat Sauce

 

Subo – Newcastle NSW
Mal Meiers

 
Three is usually a crowd but when it comes to lamb – we say the more the merrier. Passionate about local produce and showcasing the best of the Hunter region, Subo plates up sophisticated and creatively inspired dishes with thoughtful respect to utilising different cuts and preparation techniques. Mal’s two-part lamb main course uses locally sourced Milly Hill lamb rump and belly as well as lamb fat in the sauce. The main plate features charcoal-roasted lamb rump – perfectly pink inside with satisfyingly crispy-blistered skin, its distinct lamb richness paired back with roasted kohlrabi plus salted and pickled purple daikon and speckled peas. To finish the charred onion sauce, lamb fat is smoked over chestnut shells then blitzed with black garlic – resulting in a harmonic balance of smoke, sweetness and savoury umami. The belly component, served alongside, is brined and then confit until its rich layers of meat and fat are fall apart tender – to cut through the unctuous richness, the belly is glazed in black vinegar gastric infused with burnt rosemary and finished with amaranth buds and rosemary flowers.
 
 

Lamb Shoulder Gnocchetti

 

Lupo – Collingwood VIC
Stuart McVeigh

 
New on the Smith St stretch in Collingwood, Lupo is chef Scott Pickett’s foray into Italian food and replaces his modern Australian restaurant Saint Crispin. Combining Michelin-starred pasta training with Pickett & Co style, the menu offers modern Italian dishes peppered with Australian ingredients. Head Chef Stuart McVeigh’s lamb pasta is just the kind of devastatingly delicious dish that would have diners coming back again and again. Lamb shoulder is first diced and then caramelised in a pan with garlic, chilli, onion, fennel, celery and red capsicum. The pan is then deglazed with sherry vinegar, tomato paste and brown sugar and everything is added to a pot of red wine and passata and braised for about three hours until tender. Spices like black peppercorns, cinnamon and cloves give the braise an elegant edge and the result is incredibly tender and flavoursome lamb – the perfect accompaniment to house made half semolina, half 00 flour pasta. Served with wilted wild greens and fresh herbs and finished with pangrattato for a textural touch and lashings of freshly grated 24 month aged parmesan.
 
 

Dry Aged Lamb Tartare

 

6 Head – The Rocks NSW
Sean Hall

 
Sydney’s brand new premium steakhouse is sourcing quality Australian beef and lamb to age through their own in-house dry ageing program. Executive chef Sean Hall was raised on a cattle farm in Johannesburg, South Africa where his passion for quality produce – from paddock to plate – was born. For his dry aged lamb tartare, Hall uses lamb loin that he hangs in the dry age room among the larger primals of beef. An ever moving, constantly changing beast, there is no specified time when it comes to dry ageing and so Hall is constantly testing for the sweet spot and picking the lamb at its premium on the day of service – he says the range is usually 7-21 days and varies based on a number of factors. The lamb, sourced from Oberon NSW, is finished on crops of oats and celery that give the fat a sweet earthy flavour combined with the distinct chocolatey nuttiness of the dry aged meat. For service, the dry aged loin is hand cut at room temperature to ensure the best flavour then mixed together with fresh capers, cornichons and a drizzle of olive oil. The tartare is then plated and finished with garlic crisps that have been soaked in milk then deep-fried, coriander crisps and topped with a turmeric cured egg yolk with a touch of fresh coriander and parsley for a sweet fresh finish. Smoked black Maldon salt is then delicately sieved on top and the dish is served with smoke of hay chips, crostini and an olive oil and black garlic aioli on the side.
 
 

Nour – Surry Hills NSW

 
At Nour, Ibby Moubadder highlights classic Middle Eastern flavours that are playfully teased into a more contemporary execution to offer comforting familiarity in new and interesting ways – with lamb naturally taking its place front and centre on the menu.
 
 

Lamb Neck Rolls

 
The Lamb Neck Rolls bring together tender neck and creamy sweetbreads in decadent fried fingers of flavour. Lamb necks are cured for six hours in a mixture of spices then slowly braised overnight before the meat is picked from the bones and reserved. Lamb sweetbreads, soaked in cultured sheep’s milk for 24 hours, are blanched, peeled and chargrilled then mixed together with the neck meat and chargrilled leeks. Stuffed with kashkaval, a semi-hard Eastern European cheese, and rolled in a kataifi crumb; portions are fried and served piping hot with a Persian feta cream, zhuk and coriander.

Lamb Shoulder + Lamb Pancetta

 
The centrepiece of any feast – Nour’s Lamb Shoulder is a thing of smoky, gelatinous goodness. First marinated for 24 hours in Middle Eastern spices, it then enjoys a low, slow evening in the wood oven where the wood is burned down to embers and the lamb slowly transforms overnight. For service, the shoulder is glazed with jus and finished with a traditional family spice mix and served with smoked labne and hickory-smoked butter beans topped with house made lamb pancetta made from lamb bellies cured with salt and spice then air dried for six months.

 

Lamb Shoulder Chop with Pea Shoots & Macadamia

 

Higher Ground – Melbourne VIC
Dan Sawansak

 
With a busy kitchen offering all day dining and events, Dan wanted an economical lamb dish that could be mostly prepared pre service. Working with their supplier, whole lamb shoulders are sliced into rib like chops that are brined overnight in seaweed, salt and sugar then braised for around three hours in a lamb stock until tender. For service, the chops are finished on the binchotan and glazed with a house made barbeque sauce. Served with white wine braised pea shoots, macadamia puree, mint salsa verde and finished with mint oil and fresh peas – this dish ticks all the right boxes offering affordability without compromising on quality or flavour. The dish, and seasonal variations, proves to be the number one bestseller when on menu and remains on the events menu throughout the year.
 
 

Lamb Backstrap

 

Little Andorra – Carlton North VIC
Florian Ribul

 
Cosy local neighbourhood wine bar Little Andorra is serving up a range of tasty snacks from a compact kitchen with chef Florian Ribul at the helm. For his lamb dish, Flo pan frys lamb backstrap until caramelised on the outside and beautifully rare in the middle. The lamb is then rested, portioned and dusted with leek ash giving it an inky black finish in stunning contrast to the pink hued lamb. Served with grilled leeks dressed in vinaigrette, a classic lamb sauce lifted and lightened with the addition of seaweed and crispy tendrils of fried saltbush – it’s the ideal accompaniment to a glass, or a bottle, of whatever takes your fancy.
 
 
 

Two Under Ten

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All eyes on Ides for the Two Under 10 challenge as the boys in black whip up a couple of tasty treats for less than a tenner. We’re not sure Gary got the memo about not using a prime cut – so we’ve made an alternate suggestion for you. We blame you Peter Gunn.

1.

Glazed Lamb Ribs & Herb Salad

Henry Salt
Sous Chef
Ides

 

@henry.salt

 

Henry takes us on a juicy journey to Morocco with these ludicrously good lamb ribs. Really, there is nothing quite like the sticky satisfaction you get from getting messy with a fall-off-the-bone-tender lamb rib – or six. Bar snack? Check. Share plate? If you’re willing to share, sure. Plated entrée or main? Ribsolutely. Yeah, we went there.
 
 
 

Ingredients

 

Lamb ribs
Wild thyme honey
Paprika
Cumin
Coriander seeds
Garlic powder
Olive oil
White sesame seeds
Black sesame seeds

 

Total cost — $9.72

2.

Herb Crusted Lamb & Pea Puree

 

Gary Kim
Junior Sous Chef
Ides

 

@gary__jh

 

Why mess with a good thing?! Gary takes it back to old school with a classic crusted roast lamb dish giving it a colourful Spring twist with fresh herbs and a vibrant pea puree. While he has used loin rack, you could keep costs down by trying the shoulder rack instead. Just lower the temp and cook for longer, or sous vide first to soften before crumbing and finishing in a hot oven.
 
 
 

Ingredients

 

Lamb loin
Dijon mustard
Panko
Parsley
Basil
Lemon
Olive oil
Frozen peas
Milk

 

Total cost — $9.72

Fast Facts

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Fast Facts

2019 has been extremely challenging for sheep producers with drought persisting in all key regions. Insufficient rainfall has compounded the effects of a two-year period of rainfall deficiencies. NSW remains the worst affected with 99% of the state still drought-declared. The climate outlook is a drier-than-average winter for all key regions.

The demand outlook remains positive with both lamb and mutton prices reaching record highs in the last 12 months despite the drought. The national mutton indicator broke through 600¢/kg cwt in May for the first time and lamb prices are now on par with the record highs of August 2018.

Heightened sheep slaughter, lower-than-expected lambing rates and an unfavourable weather outlook is expected to see the national flock fall to 65.8 million by June 2019, a decline of 6.8% year-on-year. The fall represents the largest year-on-year decline since 2008.

The definition of lamb is changing in Australia from 1 July 2019. The current definition is ‘A female, castrate or entire male that has 0 permanent incisor teeth’. The new definition is ‘an ovine animal that is under 12 months of age; or does not have any permanent incisor teeth in wear.’

Average lamb carcase weights have followed a consistent upwards trend, due to improvements in genetics and production systems, as well as a continued transition away from Merino lambs towards first and second-crosses. Expected lamb carcase weights for 2019 remain unchanged from 2018 levels at 22.5kg cwt.

Next Issue

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Our next issue we’re hanging out with Clayton Wells from Automata and A1 in Sydney and exploring all things beef. Come with us?