The neck of a sheep is a tasty cut of meat. It has the perfect ratio of meat to bone and cooks up tender in curries, stews, soups, and all-in-one rice dishes such as Cook-up Rice and Pelau. Everyone goes for the prized cuts of lamb/sheep such as the leg, shoulder, and loin chops but I tell you, give the neck a try, I think you’ll like it.
Let me clarify the lamb/sheep labelling. In Guyana we simply say sheep and refer to the meat as mutton but in other places, there is a differentiation, and with that differentiation comes a variance in price. You pay more if it is lamb because of the young age of the meat. Lamb meat can range from 10 weeks to 6 months old. Mutton refers to the flesh of sheep that is at least one year old. Either way, the neck, is a cut worthy of your culinary attention.
I first got turned on to lamb necks when a Guyanese friend of mine, living here in Barbados, made a wicked stew of the necks served with rice and peas made with fresh pigeon peas. I still have memories of that meal. Along with some pickled cucumbers and sliced tomatoes on the side, we chased the meal with ice-cold swank (lime water). Since then, whenever I go to the market and there is lamb, I buy and cook lamb necks, preferably, you guessed it – in a curry!
