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The island country of New Zealand, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean is known best for its wild flora and fauna, scenic beaches and locales that can make your jaws drop in awe. Most of you may also know the nation for its formidable cricket team, but for us foodies, New Zealand is the land of delish meat and roasts. While you find a range of delicacies in this cosmopolitan nation, their Lamb Chops have created a rage across the globe. New Zealand is one the last, major land masses to be inhabited by humans, and you find people of all tribes, but being a commonwealth nation does bring a lot of English influence in their dining habits, even though the climate of the country is in sharp contrast with Britain. Which is what makes the history of New Zealand Lamb Chops even more fascinating. It is said that somewhere around 1773, British explorer James Cook, in one of his voyages in New Zealand tried to breed an ewe and a ram, unfortunately, they happened to survive only for two days in this new, incredibly hot country. It was not a conducive place to breed sheep, and for that matter, sheep farming did not become popular in the nation until the 1850s. After 1850s however, things changed. Not only sheep farming picked up, wool became one of New Zealand’s highest valued exports. With the introduction of frozen meat somewhere around 1882, lamb rose to new scales of popularity and became a new, bankable source of revenue for the British colony.
Romney, an English breed of lamb and Merino, a Spanish breed occupy majority of the sheep population in New Zealand. Not only are they known to work well with the local climatic conditions, but they also offer good quality meat and wool.
The New Zealand Lamb Roast, is also an essential part of the traditional Sunday roasts. Sunday Roasts, where the leg of lamb or mutton would be nicely roasted with salt and seasoning, and served alongwith roasted or boiled veggies, mashed potatoes, pumpkin, sweet potatoes and peas. As most of you would know 'Sunday Roasts' is a typical British tradition, where people, after visiting the Church, gather with their families for a lavish feast, filled with different types of roasted meats and sauces. The tradition also found its way in the British colony of New Zealand. Every body had dedicated roles on the dining table, women would ensure the lamb is perfectly roasted, while men would carefully carve out the skin, Sunday roasts, may be losing significance in New Zealand now, but the lamb chops are far from losing its takers.
New Zealand lamb roast is a simple delicacy, where the lamb and its original flavour is allowed to shine. Salt, black pepper, garlic, thyme and rosemary are few of the seasonings used. Be it fine-dine restaurants or delis New Zealand Roasts are a hit everywhere. Have it with beer on a Sunday and you are looking ahead to a very nice weekend meal.
