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Victorian Mutton
by Steve Mason
What is mutton?
Mutton is meat from a sheep that is over two years old and generally has less tender flesh; with mutton, the darker the color, the older the animal. A simple analogy: beef comes from an adult cow, while veal comes from a calf, or immature cow; mutton comes from an adult sheep; lamb comes from an immature sheep.
For hundreds of years, mutton was the staple meat of the British household. While many consider the texture of lamb to be more tender, it is less nutritious than mutton. Mutton is similar to beef in nutritive value; however, due to its high level of stearic acid, mutton can be more challenging to digest than beef for some. And while lamb may be eaten as soon as the meat is butchered, mutton must cure or age for a few weeks before it is eaten.
During the Victorian period, mutton became more important to the lower classes as a source of nutrition.
In her book, Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861), Isabella Beeton explained:
Of all wild or domesticated animals, the sheep is, without exception, the most useful to man as a food and the most necessary to his health and comfort … Mutton is, undoubtedly, the meat most generally used in families; and, both by connoisseurs and medical men, it stands first in favour, whether its fine flavour, digestible qualifications, or general wholesomeness be considered.
As can be guessed, the amount of meat available at mealtimes decreased through the classes. The wealthy Victorian family could dine daily on cheese and a variety of meats, including mutton, for supper. As wages decreased, meat was served two to three times a week, with an increased volume of potatoes/vegetables. At the lowest levels, the diet may have consisted of potatoes only.
Mutton could be served at breakfast, lunch, dinner, or supper depending on where one lived. In urban areas, it was usually served in the evening. In rural areas, as breakfast was considered the most important meal to prepare for a hard day’s work, mutton was the primary source of protein and iron.
In these poorer conditions, the same cut of mutton might be used more than once. A cook would boil a piece of mutton with vegetables one day (normally Sunday, the day most workers were off). The next day, the fat would be skimmed from the top of the boiling pot to be used for frying vegetables or making pie crusts. Finally, oatmeal would be added to the remaining liquid, producing another meal of broth, or “gruel” to some.
Medical historians have noted the importance of availability of meat, as the nutritional effects of a meat-poor diet during this period was visible in the height of the various classes. Studies found Navy recruits from urban slums were on average approximately eight inches shorter than recruits to the Royal Military Academy who came from wealthy or middle classes. Even among the wealthy, those coming from a less moneyed background averaged one inch shorter than those from the wealthiest families.
And lest we forget, mutton chops, so popular in the Victorian period, was a fashion in which the facial hair was allowed to grow longer and then cut and shaped into a bushy shape resembling the mutton cut of meat. Mutton sleeves, popular in the early parts of the Victorian period, were puffed sleeves of a dress or blouse, resembling the leg of a sheep.
WHO IS STEVE?
Steve Mason has considered himself a Sherlockian since finding his father’s copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles when he was seven years old. He is currently the head of the Crew of the Barque Lone Star, a Dallas—Fort Worth scion society, as well as the Chair of the Communications Committee for the Beacon Society, a Sherlockian society dedicated to educational outreach. He is also the primary editor of the Beacon Society’s Sherlock’s Spotlight Gazette. He administers the Fortescue Scholarship Exam and is a co-creator of Baker Street Elementary, a weekly comic strip that reveals the first adventures of Holmes and Watson. He co-created the Legion of Zoom virtual society, supporting efforts of societies who have kept the memory green on the internet. He has received BSI and ASH investitures.