Kibbe are usually made from lamb; are called 'balls' but are shaped like torpedoes; and can be fried, simmered or baked, which is what we're making this week in City Kitchen.
For the main-course brigade, there is a lush and crackly bowl of penne with roasted cauliflower and oily bread crumbs ($15); pasta rings in a breathlessly spicy and bitter homage to Bolognese made from lamb sausage and mustard greens ($17); small twists in "una marea di formaggi," an ocean of cheeses that includes a tangy whiff of blue ($17).
We had culatello, a kind of super-prosciutto rarely seen in this country; prosciutto made from lamb, with its distinctive and rather surprising flavor; and a number of different semi-dry salamis -- one flavored with fennel, one largely with cayenne, one with garlic, and so on, all very fatty, fresh and very good.
Haggis Is for Burns Night Robert Burns's birthday comes but once a year, and those who enjoy celebrating the life of Burns, who wrote "Auld Lang Syne," do so with Scotch liquor and haggis, the traditional dish made from lamb offal and oatmeal boiled in a sheep's stomach or other baglike container.
Other staples include steamed couscous, traditionally made from coarsely ground wheat but now often rolled semolina granules, served with a spicy stew that might be vegetarian and the hot red pepper harissa sauce; harira (a thick soup usually made from lamb stock, with chickpeas, vegetables and spices); and daja mahamara (chicken stuffed with almonds, semolina and raisins).
Like Gaya, the cooking ranges from surprisingly creative (bean soup with herring, herring roe, tapioca and red peppers) to straight, traditional bistro (roast lamb with confited cèpes and a delicious jus made from lamb's foot).
Since Iceland has many more sheep and very few cattle, hot dogs are made from ground lamb and pork.
Traditional merguez is made from ground lamb or goat, though sometimes you do find all-beef versions; you can combine both if you want a somewhat milder flavor.
"A good doner is made from a lamb's shoulder and breast (non-processed) and seasoned handsomely," says Ferhat Dirik, co-owner of Mangal 2 in east London.
Though steak, hamburger or burgers made from ground lamb would provide enough heft and richness for the wines we tasted, several left something to be desired when it came to acidity and structure.
Today, Wilson's quirky menagerie includes 30-odd creatures, like the charming hybrid Cyril Squirrel-Fox and Puddle Man (essentially a pool of water with a face), all of which are made from knitted lamb's wool in Wilson's East End workshop, not to mention cushions, throws, ottomans, sofas and rugs.
