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Agnello, Agnellone, Abbacchio
Lamb, Mutton
Appears in
By Antonio Carluccio and Priscilla Carluccio
Published 1997
Lamb is a very Italian meat, which has been eaten there through the ages. The tradition of raising lamb has been kept alive in the central and southern regions and the islands, where the pastures give the meat a particularly good flavour. Because of the hard work involved, however, the farming of sheep for their meat has declined in the last generation.
Agnello da latte (called abbacchio by the Romans) are milk-fed lambs slaughtered at 3 or 4 weeks old, when their meat is very pale and tender. Agnello are slightly older lambs, between 9 and 12 weeks old, weighing up to 15 kg (30 lb). They are both milk-fed and reared on pasture and their flesh is both tender and flavour-some. Lambs of this size are often cooked whole on a spit. Agnellone are killed at about 6 months old and have very tasty meat which is mostly used in stews and ragùs.