Barometz Bault or Barometz Chops Leftovers

Wow, Dungeon Meshi Maniacs! I don't know about you but I was leaning heavily into the Barometz Chops this weekend. Why you ask? To keep warm! My end of the dungeon was hit hard with a winter storm. It would have been more thematic to hit when the gang was in that winter zone but what can you do. Also, I didn't have more Barometz Chops to keep me warm but rather the memory of them. Why you ask...again?  As I mentioned last time it's pretty hard to get your hands on lamb in my area!  Try as I might it's rare and a bit pricey.  Why you ask not once, not twice but thrice?  Time to take a walk through history, DMMs!

Lamb is one of our oldest domesticated animals. Sometime between 11,000 to 9,000 BCE! The role of the shepherd is a historic one and very wide spread. So many ancient stories involve a shepherd or a sheep in some way.  Most of the world kept up the practice and enjoy lamb to this day. So why is lamb rather hard to find in the USA?  The main culprit is another ancient domesticated animal (3,000 BCE). One a bit larger and way heavier.

Cattle became the major herding animal in the US thanks to our very open ranges and at the time limited government control on grazing. Sheep weren't really introduced into the West until the late 1800's. By that time, cow was the undisputed king.  The grazing lands out West were pretty open, first come first serve to the grass.  This led to conflicts between the cowboys and the shepherds. Conflicts that became seriously violent! I'm not joking, DMMs. This was called the Range Wars for a reason.

Cowboys would put up fences, shepherds would cut the fences down and the cowboys would kill the sheep. Thousands, and I means THOUSANDS of sheep were killed, DMMs!  And dozens of shepherds! Because the cattlemen had been in the region for so long they had large parts of the local government in their pocket.  So most did not face any punishment at all.  The governments also passed laws making it onerous to keep sheep. They had to be checked for disease and illness at levels much higher than cattle. Granted, domestic sheep do carry respiratory illnesses that can spread not only to other flocks but to wild big horned sheep who had NO defense and were nearly wiped out.  But sheep don't carry disease any more than any other domesticated animal. I mean, does this look like the face of a killer?

Range Wars aside there are other issues with large sheep herds.  One false belief is they kill grass. It was a lie spread that sheep eat the root of the grass making it slow to impossible to replace. But it was a lie that took hold.  Other problems when herds did get sick the people of the time had harder times treating it. The medicine wasn't there so you could lose your flock quickly.  Finally, wolves. They had a way easier time packing off sheep than a big old cow.

So sheep kept getting knocked around by nature and society, DMMs!  Eventually we just didn't raise them in meaningful quantities and the American populace forgot how to even prepare it. Thankfully we are a country of immigrants which means lamb was alive as a meat in the larger cities.  And over time the cattle stranglehold on the market loosened.  People started raising sheep not just for meat but milk and wool! It's really a great animal to have around. Some even rent out their sheep to mow hard to prune areas.  Long story short, DMMs, we love lamb around here even though it's hard to find. I'm a fan alright. What I'm not a fan of is what I'm going to try and make for you all next week.  That's right, DMMS! Time for me to stand up to another kitchen bully!