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Monday, December 23, 2019

Can mutton make a comeback in the United States?

A number of dishes are likely to appear on American tables this holiday season: turkey, ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, latkes, kugel and more. Mutton, not so much.

Mutton and lamb are popular dishes worldwide, including in the United States, but around World War II it essentially dropped off American menus, Lisa Fogarty reports for NPR.

That's no coincidence: American soldiers in WWII were given canned mutton from Australia, which was apparently terrible, according to Bob Kennard, author of Much Ado About Mutton. "Wherever he travels, the Welsh mutton expert says he hears a similar story," Fogarty reports.

"I am told that someone's uncle or father came home from the war and wouldn't allow sheep meat in the house — they never wanted to see it again. It just went completely out of fashion," Kennard told Fogarty.

A number of other factors influenced the downfall of mutton in the U.S., including tech advances in railroads and refrigeration, Fogarty reports. Can it make a comeback? Unclear, but marketers and food influencers are trying.

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