Hogget - A term for a sheep of either sex having no more than two permanent incisors in wear, or its meat.A permanent incisor tooth is said to be 'in wear' if it protrudes further than the nearest milk teeth. In Britain the definition is still '0 permanent incisor teeth'. This followed a similar definition change in New Zealand in 2018. This new definition meant that Australians farmers could extend the term 'lamb' with another month. From 1 July 2019, the Australian definition is 'an ovine animal that: (a) is under 12 months of age or (b) does not have any permanent incisor teeth in wear.

Lamb - a young sheep which is less than one year old.In general, the darker the colour, the older the animal.īritain, Australia, and New Zealand Mutton is meat from a sheep over two years old, and has less tender flesh. Younger lambs are smaller and more tender. The definitions for lamb, hogget and mutton vary considerably between countries. Other languages, such as French, Spanish, and Italian, make similar or even more detailed distinctions among sheep meats by age and sometimes by sex and diet-for example, lechazo in Spanish refers to meat from milk-fed (unweaned) lambs.Ĭlassifications and nomenclature Lamb chops with new potatoes and green beans In Australia, the term prime lamb is often used to refer to lambs raised for meat. The stronger-tasting mutton is now hard to find in many areas, despite the efforts of the Mutton Renaissance Campaign in the UK. Lamb is the most expensive of the three types and in recent decades sheep meat is increasingly only retailed as 'lamb', sometimes stretching the accepted distinctions given above. At various times and places, 'mutton' or 'goat mutton' has occasionally been used to mean goat meat.

In South Asian and Caribbean cuisine, 'mutton' often means goat meat.

Hogget has become more common in England, particularly in the North (Lancashire and Yorkshire) often in association with rare breed and organic farming. Generally, 'hogget' and 'sheep meat' are not used by consumers outside Norway, New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland, and Australia. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, Ovis aries. For other uses, see Mutton (disambiguation). For goat meat, which is what 'mutton' primarily refers to in South Asia and the Caribbean, see goat meat.

Mutton chops and mullet