Marvin Harris has written extensively about food cultures, and, in particular, how they changed over the course of the 20th century in the United States. Up to mid-century, pork was on a par with beef but by the end of the century, beef and chicken dominated the meat market. He also wrote about how mutton and goat became disfavoured, but I can’t really recall off the top of my head what happened there.
We go twice a year to a local sheep farm to buy lamb. The farmer has told us that the price he gets per pound for lamb makes it silly to produce mutton; he would lose money. The only lambs not slaughtered are those that are kept to reproduce.
The first (and last) time I had mutton was in Mali, where my African crew threw a mishwi for me when I left. I couldn’t eat the stuff after a bite or two. Mutton is a major source of protein in that part of the world.
Moving from GQ to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
So now we have the answer. What happened to mutton is that it got moved to a different forum.
“Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don’t look like mutton again tomorrer.”
I think this subject was discussed earlier, but I have no desire to see Zombie Mutton.
Growing up in Southeast Texas, lamb or mutton were* never* on the menu. I think some family members might have had traumatic experiences with Institutional Mutton. During the War, canned mutton was supposedly popular Soldier Chow; and it was disgusting. (I quite like lamb now.)
Prince Charles supports the Mutton Renaissance Campaign.
Maybe as part of the revitalizing campaign they should change the name to something more appealing. “Mutton” does sound like a “manly meat”, but it also sounds kind of unappetizing.
Several places, really, not to mention countless church picnics. Further east in Lexington, Billy’s BBQ does a very nice version. It’s the key to Western KY BBQ.
I like to do it myself, since CrazyCatLady is from Owensboro, and it can be a real bitch to find. I finally found a place called Bluegrass Lamb and Goat near Berea that sells it.
Yeah, in Owensboro itself, there’s four places that remain (as far as I know): Moonlite (the most well-known), George’s, Old South, and Old Hickory. My favorite of the four the one time I visited was George’s (and yes, I tried all four). Great people all around, and great barbecue, too. Definitely a must-go destination for lovers of barbecue and/or mutton. Be sure also to try the local burgoo. They just had their big barbecue festival last weekend. Landmark BBQ in Evansville, IN, has mutton, too, and I’m sure I’ve seen at least one other place near there between Evansville and Owesboro that had it.
Pulykamell, Dr J: Is this mutton BBQ pulled and served on sandwiches? How far are these places from say, Cincinnati? I’ve been planning a little road trip to Frankfort KY to visit some friends and I wouldn’t mind going a little out of my way to try some of this stuff as I’ve never had it.
It got dressed as lamb.
If they were eating at reasonably good restaurants and even some gastropubs in the last say, seven years or so, it wouldn’t be surprising to see it as an option, because it’s been fashionable. It wouldn’t be common, but not rare either, IME, enough for someone to have mutton dishes several times if they wanted to.
Yes, more or less. It’s chopped or pulled mutton, usually served with a “dip” that is mainly worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and vinegar rather than a tomato-based BBQ sauce. It can be served as a sandwich with raw onions and a couple of pickles, or on its own. You can find a report on it here, and my contribution is under the screen name “Binko.” (And, apparently, my favorite overall was Old Hickory for the mutton, and George’s for the burgoo.)
According to Google maps, it appears to be a 3-3.5 hour drive from Cincinnati to Owensboro.
That’s the reason I heard for mutton’s steep decline in popularity in the U.S. over the last 60 years. Basically, most meat was rationed during WWII but mutton was cheap and relatively plentiful. Thus, it was often the only available choice when people wanted to eat meat. However, as a result, people in both the military and on the home front quickly grew sick of mutton so when the war ended, rationing was lifted, and people had a lot more money in their pockets, they immediately dropped mutton from their grocery lists in favor of chicken, pork, and beef.
This was three or four years ago. We spent a week in Oxford (my wife working, me bumming around) followed by a week in London (with the both of us bumming around). Note that I tried not to order anything from the local menus that looked like something I’d find in a chain restaurant in the US, which was probably why I was ordering mutton dishes. We also ate a lot in pub / pub-like settings.
They’re so perky, I love that.
There once was a man from Sydney
Who loved his mutton and kidney
But his wife gave him calf
So he cut her in half
Well he had to do something didn’t he?
So, what you’re saying is that mutton is less commonly found today because of an increased availability of Manflesh?
eewwww.
Please don’t anyone make any comments about “ewe.”
Thanks for the comments, everyone. Apparently the answer is “Because mutton is generally considered to suck unless it’s soaked with BBQ sauce”. 
The Owensboro BBQ is actually not really soaked in BBQ sauce at all. It’s basically just straight-up smoked mutton, sometimes served with a thin drizzle of worcestershire-vinegar sauce, but just as often to be dressed at the table at the diner’s desire. You do get to taste the goodness of the mutton, but it can be a bit of an acquired taste. Think lamb, but stronger.