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Mutton · cuts in detail
Mutton is not worse lamb. It is older lamb.
A sheep over a year old has lived longer, worked harder and built more of everything, more fat, more connective tissue, more flavour. That is why mutton takes longer and why a curry made with it tastes of considerably more. Time is the only thing it asks of you.
Start here
Tap the sheep
Eight sections, front to back. Tap any one to find out where it sits, what we call it at the counter, how long it needs and what to do with it.
→ Tap a cut on the chart
Eight sections, one animal
Tap any cut on the chart. Every tile is a photograph of what actually comes over the counter.
The question we get asked most
Lamb or mutton?
Same animal, different age, and they are not interchangeable. Cook mutton like lamb and you will think mutton is tough. It is not tough. It is unfinished.
Lamb
Under one year
Paler, softer, milder. Less fat and far less connective tissue, so it cooks faster and forgives less. A leg of lamb roasts in a couple of hours and a chop is done in six minutes. If you are cooking for people who find lamb strong, this is the one, and if you are short of time, it is the only one.
Lamb cuts in detail →Mutton
Over one year
Darker, firmer, deeper. More fat marbled through the muscle and more collagen holding it together, which is exactly what a long cook needs. Give it the extra hour it wants and it repays you with a depth lamb cannot reach. It is also cheaper, because most of Britain forgot how to cook it.
Shop mutton →Curry, karahi, paya, anything with an afternoon behind it, mutton, every time. Chops on a tawa in twenty minutes, lamb. The mistake is buying mutton and cooking it like lamb.
The second question
Leg mince or shoulder mince?
We mince both at the counter and they look identical in the bag. They are not, and picking wrong is the difference between a kebab that holds and one that falls in the fire.
Leg mince
Lean · holds its shape
Taken off the hind leg, which is the leanest large muscle on the animal. It binds tightly and stays where you put it, on a skewer, in a kofta, pressed into a shami. Use it in a keema and it will taste thin and go grainy, because there is not enough fat to carry the spice.
Mutton Mince →Shoulder mince
Fattier · richer
Off the forequarter, where the fat runs through the muscle rather than sitting round it. That fat renders out and becomes the base of the dish, which is what a keema or a bhuna is actually built on. Put it on a skewer and it will slump off into the coals halfway through.
Mutton Mince →On a skewer or in a ball, you want leg. In a pan with onions and tomato, you want shoulder. Order the mince and tell us the dish in the notes, or ring the order line on 07479 462297, and we will mince the right one for you.
The whole animal
Buying a whole, half or quarter sheep
Every cut on this page in one order, prepared however you want it, left whole, curry cut on the bone, mixed, boneless, or premium. This is also the animal we recommend for Qurbani.
Whole
Every section above. Tell us what to leave whole for roasting and what to curry cut for the freezer.
Half
A balanced spread, chops, leg, shoulder, shank, ribs and mince, enough to last a family months.
Quarter
The hindquarter: leg and loin, the two sections most kitchens reach for first.
The full picture
Every mutton cut, on one chart
Where each cut sits on the animal and what it is called at the counter. Save it to your phone, or tap it to open full size.
Tell us the dish. We will tell you the cut.
Karahi, paya, kebab or a slow curry with the afternoon to spare, say what you are cooking and we will cut it to suit, fresh, the same day.
Shop all muttonCut names change from household to household and region to region. If you call something by a different name, describe the dish and we will know exactly what you mean.
Cook it with HMC-certified halal mutton from our counter. Hand slaughtered, monitored by the Halal Monitoring Committee, and cut the way you ask for it at 26-28 City Road, Bradford. Collect in about two hours or local delivery within seven miles.
Order halal mutton onlineWhat HMC certified means