What is a mutton leg?
A mutton leg is a cut of meat consisting of the hind legs of sheep or goat. It is different from the lamb leg in that sheep are generally older, at least 2 years. The meat of the mutton legs is very slim and can be well marbled, although there may be a decent amount of hard tissue that is attributed to the age of sheep. Compared to the lamb's leg, the mutton has a stronger taste with a slightly more gaming taste. The leg can be cooked like roast, sliced into steaks or crushed into smaller pieces, so it can be integrated as a component into larger meals. It can be cut and sold as the only large piece of meat with bone still inside, or it can be deborated and converted to roast. The leg can be cut across the foot steaks, or the meat and the tendon end of the foot can be shaved to expose the bones for a more dramatic presentation during cooking.
When used in cooking is one of the aspects of the mutton foot amount of connective tissuecontained in the meat. It tends to grab firmly when it is too fast cooked, so the meat is heavy and chewing. For this reason, the leg is usually roasted very slowly for a long time to break down the tissue, so that the meat becomes very tender.
Another attribute of the mutton leg is the lack of protective fat around the outside of the foot. This could lead to the drying of meat when it is cooked in a certain way. This is especially a problem when the leg was cut into cubes or steaks.
In several countries there are a number of traditional foods for mutton legs. It is popular as a whole roast, with a leg baked for some time with spices after marinating. In India and Southeast Asia is used in spicy curry and steamed souls. Skopové leg in Latin American cuisine is sometimes steamed for a long time and then shredded to provide a filling for TACO.