Kambing versus Kambing Domba

[BaliLife]

Hi All,

I thought I would post on this very unimportant / insignificant subject, after I saw tin's post about Sate Kambing..

Kambing = Goat
Kambing Domba = Sheep (lamb, hogget, mutton - ALL)

I, like many Aussies am a lamb lover :wink: (not in the kiwi sense - just joking of course). I use the term "lamb" as opposed to sheep, but hogget is also very nice (older than lamb but younger than mutton). I tend to keep away from mutton - but that said, sometimes you're in a restaurant and you just know you've been sold mutton under the pretense of it being lamb. Actually in australia (and I don't know if this is used elsewhere), we refer to "cougar" women (old women dressing like they're 17) as "mutton dressed up as lamb"..

The terminology seems interchangeable outside of Australia, NZ and perhaps the UK - I often hear the term mutton used in the US at fine dining restaurants.. As an australian, we're tempted to ask the owner, "do you realize that mutton refers to an old sheep - that australians buy to feed their dogs?".. In singapore, every indian restaurant almost exclusively uses uses the term "mutton masala" or "mutton curry", etc - I don't think they're actually calling it that because the sheep was old..

Technically, lamb is supposed to not have eaten grass before slaughter - i.e. lamb should only have ever been milk fed. I don't know if this still holds true, but that's supposedly why, lovely lamb is abound with more of the sweet heavenly fat than it's older counterparts..

Anyhow - I find goat (kambing) to be a very very different taste altogether.. many suggest it's similar.. I find the lack of fat on goat to really detract from it's flavour, as i believe that the flavour of all quality red meats is in the fat (mmm.. Marbled Rib-Eye!!).. I also find that often it's just sickly sweet without the 'round' flavour that you get with lamb - incidentally that same 'round' flavour is probably the same flavour that 'non-lamb' eaters find so offensive..

I've read that indonesia does produce kambing domba (sheep) in areas around bandung - but i've never seen it in any of the supermarkets. If i saw it I would definitely try it. Actually aussie imported lamb is not really more here than it is in australia - i buy either:

1. Filleted shanks (which u never see in australia) for rp70,000/kg
or
2. Filleted shoulder for rp95,000/kg..

Anyhow, I would love to hear if anybody else has an opinion on the flavour of goat vs sheep and also would love to hear of any place in bali that sells domestic lamb (or hoggit), be it a restaurant or a supermarket..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamb_and_mutton

Ct

 

[tintin]

BaliLife,

Can't add much to your post about Domba.

In my nearest two local supremarkets, near Boston, one gets plenty of Australian lamb, while the other one does not. The butcher at the latter tells me that the Australian lamb does not sell, because people object to its taste (!?), so he sells only American lamb. The US lamb is older than the Australian lamb, and I personally I find it a little tougher (but of course not as mutton). Its taste is pleasant, but not as fine as the Australian one.

The Australian lamb meat comes fresh, not frozen, vacuum packed. Those fine lamb chops sell for US$6.99/lb, and a leg for US$2.99 - 3.99/lb. Can't beat that.

In our intimate group of friends in Boston, it is traditional that my wife and I host the Easter dinner, which of course consists, among other dishes, the traditional leg of lamb, and "flagolet"" (flageolet beans, Egl.) - The caviar of beans (which I am sure to bring back from France each time I go there, although some are now grown in California). My good friend, who used to be the Exc. Chef at the Ritz, Boston, one of the two original Ritz Hotels (BEFORE the name "Ritz" and the Boston hotel itself was sold to a bunch of Atlanta businessmen, some 20 years ago, and Ritzes started popping up all around the USA and the world, with a corresponding decline in the quality and style), always recommends Australian lamb. He never forgets to remind me each year...I guess he's getting old (and so am I).

 

[mimpimanis]

You quite often see sheep in Lombok but I have yet to see any in Bali.

There is local lamb available at the meat counter in Carrefour as well as Australian lamb.

For a chop I prefer lamb but for sate I prefer kambing.

 

[BaliLife]

hi tin,

yes, colorado lamb is also very famous, but i've yet to try it.. you also can taste the difference between nz and aussie lamb..

i'm a "soft lamb eater".. that is, when you cook lamb it can come out with 2 textures.. if you grill it or fry it it comes out with a steak like texture - that's no for me.. when you roast, braise or casserole it, it becomes very tender and just melts in your mouth - that's how i love it, doesn't matter too much whether it's cooked in italian, indian, arabic, etc sauces..

mimpi, i haven't seen local lamb in carrefour, and i've looked..

ct

 

[josefk]

Personally I think the best lamb anywhere is New Zealand...it's all those mountains they run about on.

'Mutton dressed as lamb' is also a well known saying in the UK too.

In my eyes, mutton tastes very very similar to goat (I would say goat tastes slightly nicer). But then I am used to eating goat curry (the future wife is West Indian) so taste is masked somewhat, however the consistency of the meat is better than mutton me thinks.

Thanks...you have made me feel hungry for a curry... :lol:

 

[BaliLife]

have got a dry potato lamb curry on the stove now.

mmm...

ct

 

[mimpimanis]

Hi Balilife

I checked again when I was in Carrefour yesterday and the lamb they have in the fresh meat section is local lamb. They have imported lamb in the freezer infront of that.

 

[Jimbo]

Anybody fancy "Ërwe" sate That dog for those that do not know. Very tasty

 

[milan]

That's Menadonese, Jimbo. Erwe; a dog! And I am a Menadonese but have never eaten it. No, thank you. Yes, I've heard it's good. They also eat "paniki" - it's a bat! And the blood of the pigs. YUK!!! No, thank you. BUT, I love Menadonese food very much. I was surprised to see so many Menadonese Restaurants mushrooming in all over Jakarta. I just love the HOT, HOT, HOT food. For this reason I love Thai food as well.

 

[mimpimanis]

My husband eats bat on a regular basis Milan. He loves it - sometimes guests try it too too and a few even go hunting bat with him. I tried it once it was okay but I would rather not eat it myself.

 

[milan]

It is good, Mimpimanis, but I've never tried them. The way it's cooked with all the ingredients they put in looks really yummy. How come your husband eats it? He's Balinese, right?

 

[mimpimanis]

Yes Milan, my husband is Balinese. He often hunted bat as a youngster with his father and they ate it growing up. he started eating it again a few years ago when his mother came to visit and saw all the bats we have around at night and wanted some. So Made got her one and it is now a regular dish for him. Infact he has balinese freinds from a village about 30km away that come to hunt bat with him as they dont have many where they are.

 

[Bert Vierstra]

I was served small sparrows once in Dewi's village....

 

[Jimbo]

[I was served small sparrows once in Dewi's village....

Maybe they were putting you on a diet

 

[milan]

So, I guess you too eat it, mimpimanis? I wonder how they cook it.

Jimbo, that's funny. Sorry Bert, we laugh a little at your expense.

 

[mimpimanis]

No Milan. I only tried it once, when it was one caught by one of our guests and part of his birthday dinner and he insisted I try so I did. I can't even remember what the taste was like to be honest. Made either cooks it on an open fire or in the oven.

 

[BaliLife]

I've not tried dog and I never will, knowingly at least. I'm less disgusted by the thought of bats, but still the question at the front of my mind is, "why would I eat a bat?"..

I must admit I have a distinctive bias when it comes to culinary preferences.

If an italian chef cooked pig snout, I'd eat it and probably enjoy it, if an indonesian, chinese or thai chef cooked it, I wouldn't even try it (unless they were preparing it in an italian manner). Basically, and this will sound bad, I don't entirely trust eating 'abmormal' things in asia, but I'd trust such in italy and france. I'm afraid, when it comes to culinary arts, the french and italians are a few hundred decades ahead of indonesians - for me at least.. Part of my lack of respect for the indonesian taste bud stems from the fact that 90% of indonesians would pick a pack of indomie over almost any foreign cuisine and most of that 90% probably think indomie mi goreng is great food..

Now, on another note, I had joined a gym a few months back in surabaya and upon joining got the blah blah blah - free personal trainer for a session.. As I paced the treadmill, he was telling me how much he loves eating dog - he was from sumatra.. He took great pleasure in explaing to me how the dog had to be killed a certain way and that he only ate it at a certain time of year and that the dogs they eat are not like normal dogs, they're fatter (he proclaimed)..

Also, a few years back when visiting indo, my wife and I went out with one of her school friends and her fiance.. He was one of the nicest guys I'd ever met.. Halfway through the meal, she let's out that he likes eating dog.. I know this is irrational but suddenly I felt as though I was sitting in front of a saddistic bastard. After that, regardless of what was being discussed, every 5 minutes, I'd look at him and say, "kok iso yo, makan anjing? Nggilani suoro rek!", which literally translates to, "how can you, eat dog? That's absolutely disgusting (or extremely disgusting)".. He was such a nice guy, he'd just giggle.. To this day, when ever I see him, we joke about it.. And whenever his wife calls to speak to my wife and I answer the phone, I ask, "how's the dog-eater? I mean your husband, the dog-eater.."

Anyhow, must sleep - driving up to Ubud tomorrow.

Any good suggestions for some decent western food there?

Ct

 

[mimpimanis]

Pigs trotters are a common dish in Ireland where I spent some of my childhood and even Pigs Head was often found in my aunt's fridge - though admitedly it was just my uncle who liked the head. I think my aunt used to make Pate out of it too though.

And as for why eat bat - It may have been economical reasons when Made was a child, one of ten and living not even in the village but in the jungle. These days he and his freinds he hunts with can eat what they want so I'm guessing they just like the taste!

 

[Jimbo]

Part of my lack of respect for the indonesian taste bud stems from the fact that 90% of indonesians would pick a pack of indomie over almost any foreign cuisine and most of that 90% probably think indomie mi goreng is great food

I think that is not true. Indonesian food is almost always freshly cooked and is of excellent tast and infinate variety. Folks use Indomie as a snack but I have never in almost 26 years heard anyone say it was great food. they know what is great but perhaps cannot always afford it.

You want some GREAT western food. Go to the north of England, pigs trotters, tripe, black blood pudding and brawn await you

 

[BaliLife]

Mmm, well yes jimbo, I was going to refer to 'europeans' as opposed to just the french and the italians in my previous post, but then remembered that england's a part of europe and majorly bucks the trend.

besides the sate babi close to wardani in denpasar, the only indonesian food I remotely enjoy is padang type food (without having to eat it from a window) - rendang, belado, kari, etc..

Ct