Handheld, But Not a Hotdog
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Here are some facts about lamb rib chops, in no particular order:
The round, lollipop part is called the “eye,” and when I worked in restaurants, we always ordered chops with small eyes from our purveyors. That meant you could still put three lamb chops on an entree plate, but because they weighed less than chops with larger eyes, the per-plate profit was higher.
Lamb (in the U.S.) is relatively expensive because lambs are not factory farmed and they weigh less than pigs and cows, yielding less meat per animal. There’s a finite number of ribs on each lamb, and we prize that tender meat, which drives the perceived value up even higher.
In the states, rib chops are usually trimmed of the fat that sits above the loin, and along the bottom ends of the ribs, exposing the bone. This is “fancy.”
The eye is the loin, the way filet mignon is also the loin, and that part of the animal is very tender.
Chewiness in meat is prized in about every culture and cuisine, and yet it is deplored in French culinary education and North American palates. What a drag!
Tenderness in meat is overrated, and now we’ve entered the opinion part of this list of facts.
By seeking out lamb rib chops that have not been trimmed of their excess exquisite fat and that also have the deckle intact, you as a consumer (in the market and at the table) are winning. When meat is trimmed of fat, the cost of the total weight is passed onto you, the customer, but the butcher keeps the scraps. You’re paying for it, you might as well eat it!
Equally importantly: the fat and the deckle are insanely good. Lamb fat is some of the best fat, and you already know we love fat in this house. The deckle is a strip of meat sandwiched between the rib bone and a layer of fat above it; it is well marbled but has some chew. (If you’re a brisket person, the point end of the brisket is the deckle end, prized for it’s flavor and additional marbling.) Pair that tender eye with the succulent fat and add some incisor-worthy chewy bits and now you’re getting all the textural contrasts and the best flavors in one mouthful.
Today’s recipe celebrates everything there is to love about lamb chops. We’re keeping the fat on. We’re seeking out the deckle. We’re savoring the tender eye, somehow even more tender-seeming when enjoyed alongside a resilient bit of meat. Not to get philosophical, but can we truly know tenderness without a little chew?
Here we are in summer, and like the lamb grazing on grass, we meander outdoors. We fire up our hearths (aka our grills) and we cook quickly, passionately, welcoming the flare-ups that signal that the fat is rendering. And when our lamb chops are done, we don’t plate them delicately on a plate, shingling the Frenched ends in a dainty way. No. We attack our lamb ribs as we do our pork ribs, pinching their juicy meaty ends with our fingers and chomping away. If you only eat lamb a couple of times a year, make this one of them, and go all in.
