Description
The Connemara Hill Lamb PGI is a lamb from Connemara hills, of the Blackface breed.
Production Area
The Connemara Hill Lamb PGI production area extends to the west of the Corrib Lake and the Inishmaan, Inisheer and Inishmore Islands. This region of western Ireland is known as Connemara, in the Connacht province.
Production Method
Lambs are born in the spring and are suckled by the mother throughout their lives. They are generally born at the beginning of April; i.e. later than the other Irish lambs. They live freely in the hilly areas and feed on mountain herbs, heath and other plants scattered through the production regions. When they reach their fourteenth week of life, or, in some cases, the tenth week, they are slaughtered. If there is no authorized slaughterhouse in the determined geographical region, lambs are transported to an accredited slaughterhouse in a bordering county. In Ireland, meat is sold from August to November.
Appearance and Flavour
Connemara Hill Lamb PGI has a light bone structure and reaches a modest weight, around 10 kg, as opposed to the average weight of flat land lambs, 25 kg. Meat is lean, pinkcoloured and covered by a thin layer of fat with a hard consistency right through.
History
The black-headed sheep, Blackface, were introduced in Scotland at the beginnings of the 19th century, starting the Connemara Hill Lamb PGI consumption. Following the Great Famine, in the 1850s-1870s, this breed was imported from Scotland to graze in the Connemara hills. Successively, other breeds were imported to improve meat production and specific sub-breeds, adapted to the hard conditions of Connemara, were developed.
Gastronomy
Connemara Hill Lamb PGI must be kept in cold storage, wrapped in suitable food-wrapping paper, making sure to place it in the coldest compartment. It is eaten cooked by oven or grill, but the classical use is in Irish beef stew, an antique recipe in which it is cooked with potatoes, onions, thyme and other species in an iron pan.
Marketing
The product is sold as Connemara Hill Lamb PGI. It is marketed whole or in the classic cuts of mutton butchery.
Distinctive Features
The taste, the aroma and colour of Connemara Hill Lamb PGI are closely linked to the local flora on which the lambs feed. Their diet includes mountain herbs, heath and other plants scattered over the production regions. Thanks to the Connemara rugged terrain, lambs are more agile than those from the flat land; this is why their carcass is lighter: about 10 kg, as opposed to the average weight of plains lambs, 25 kg.
