LAMB CHOP 2 BREED TASTING KIT, 2.25lb total, four chops total from Dorset Horn and Tunis

Lamb Chop 2 Breed Tasting Kit
2.25lb total
Four chops total, two 8-10 oz Dorset Horn chops and two 8-10 oz Tunis chops

• Heritage Breeds raised on pasture and 100% antibiotic free
• Raised by Ben and Grace Machin Tamarack Sheep Farm, Vermont
• Heritage lamb has tremendous marbling resulting in a more tender, exquisite, and juicy meat

Most Americans are surprised to learn that there are dozens of breeds of lamb and that each breed has its own wondrous and unique flavor. This package is an unprecedented opportunity to experience just how varied the taste of the same livestock can be from one cherished heritage breed to the next.

Heritage Foods has made it our mission to promote these pure, rare breeds, each with their own colorful history and provenance. In fact we’ve been able to protect them from the brink of extinction by creating a growing market for their earthy, natural flavors. As we like to say, “you need to eat ’em to save ’em.”

Heritage lamb chops are cut thick from the loin, and are an astonishing balance of nuanced flavor and pure, decadent satisfaction. These lamb chops are a pure treat, and so easy to prepare: just rub the meat with salt and pepper and perhaps a bit of fresh rosemary, and cook in a hot pan with a small amount of olive oil for about 3-4 minutes on each side.

100% Heritage breed lamb is a marvelous gastronomic pleasure and much milder and more pleasant to the palate than regularly available lamb. Our Tunis, Dorset Horn and Navajo-Churro lamb first arrived to Corinth, Vermont in the 1920s thanks to Ben Machin’s grandfather. Ben and Grace now raise the flock on the beautiful pastures of Tamarack Sheep Farm. 

The Tunis is earthy with notes of buttermilk. The Dorset is lighter, with a clean, floral finish. The California Red has rich flavor, great marbling, and tenderness characteristics that make for an excellent lamb eating experience. The Navajo-Churro lamb is remarkably tender — even the braising cuts can be grilled.

Tunis, Dorset Horn, Navajo-Churro, and California Red Breeds of Lamb

Tunis: Originally from Tunisia, the breed was brought to the U.S. as a gift to George Washington and raised by the first three Presidents. This is the same lamb as was written about in the Bible, but the modern version has a less fatty tail.

Dorset Horn: A breed of sheep that spread over Dorset, Somerset, Devon, and most of Wales in the 1750s. This is the breed the English with a fine palate would eat for Christmas! Very few farmers still raise this endangered breed.

California Red: California Reds are a cross between the Barbados Blackbelly sheep and the Tunis sheep and are liked by chefs for their size, and large loin eyes. The breed is hearty and grows well on the grassy pastures of the rainforest-like Ozarks. Farmer David Newman is also renowned for raising the best Berkshire pigs in the world.

Navajo-Churro: The first domesticated livestock to ever come onto American soil, the Churro breed was brought here by early Spanish explorers and quickly adopted into the culture of the Navajo Nation in the Southwest. The breed was used for wool and meat but today is considered America’s rarest breed of lamb.