lamb
Also known as: lamb rump
Meat from a young sheep, with a richer, more mineral, slightly gamey flavor than beef -- more pronounced in fattier cuts and cuts from older animals. Rump is a lean, tender cut from the upper back leg, meaty enough to hold up in chunks for a braise or tagine while still being tender enough not to need hours of cooking the way a tougher cut like shoulder or shank does.
Buying guidance
Look for firm, fine-grained meat, pinkish-red for younger lamb (a deeper red suggests an older animal with a stronger flavor), with clean white fat rather than yellowish fat, which signals age. Rump is usually sold as a small roast or pre-cut into chunks or steaks; ask a butcher to cut it into stew-size chunks if it's only sold whole.
Substitutions
- Lamb shoulder -- fattier and more richly flavored, but needs longer, slower cooking to become tender; a common substitute in a braise or stew if rump isn't available.
- Beef chuck -- a completely different flavor (no gaminess), but a similar braising texture and behavior if lamb specifically isn't wanted or available.
- Goat -- a close flavor cousin to lamb, similarly lean, works the same way in most recipes calling for lamb.
Tips & common mistakes
Treating rump like a quick-sear steak and pulling it off the heat rare works fine on its own, but in a stew or tagine meant to simmer for an hour or more, rushing that simmer leaves it merely cooked-through and slightly chewy rather than truly tender -- give it the full simmer time a recipe calls for rather than judging doneness by color alone.
Storage
Keeps refrigerated for a few days, tightly wrapped; freezes well for several months. Lamb fat solidifies and can taste waxy once a cooked dish cools, more noticeably than beef fat does -- reheating gently until it's hot again largely fixes this.