The confusing world of lamb, mutton, sheep and goat

I used to dislike roast lamb due to bad experience. Many years ago, I was staying at this residential college while on an exchange programme in Melbourne Uni, and on days when roast lamb was on the menu, I'd switch to a vegetarian diet. It was simply too strong and smelly, I had decided.

But give me Soup Kambing and I'll slurped it till it's finished. Nope, I'm not put off by the stronger taste of mutton.

So me and Remi would have disagreements over the difference between lamb and mutton (when we're away from the computer of course, otherwise we would verify instantly), and I used to think that mutton comes from goat and lamb comes from sheep.

Here's the answer from about.com:
"Lamb is a sheep less than a year old, typically slaughtered between the ages of four and twelve months. Older sheep is called mutton and has a much stronger flavor and tougher meat that many find distasteful."

So I was wrong, but then, in the world of mutton dishes in Indian and/or Malay cooking, it seems that goat meat is used interchangeably with sheep meat, according to an entry in wikepedia. I may be right too.

Anyway, sheep or goat, when it comes to cheese, I dislike it all the same. But when it comes to eating the meat, I've converted and now enjoy lamb almost as much as I do with other types of meat.

Last night was my first attempt at roasting some unidentifiable cuts of lamb we bought at the Sunday market. As usual, I can't find any recipes that uses that part of lamb, and which I have all the ingredients. So, the below recipe is an improvisation from a stuffed lamb leg recipe from Jamie's Italy.

Lamb roasted with herbs
serves 2

6 small pieces of lamb
about 6 cloves of garlic
mixed herbs (parsley, oregano, thyme - recipes always recommend fresh herb, but I only had dried ones)
1-2 anchovy fillet
2-3 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs (yes, I crumbed my own bread with my hands)
1 tsp pinenuts (they are not cheap, so I use sparingly)
sea salt and ground black pepper
rosemary
2 bay leaves
olive oil
1-2 potatoes (I used 1 cos I only had 1)
fresh mushrooms (portobello is nice whole, but if using button mushrooms, sliced them in chunky pieces)
red wine

Preheat oven at 200C.

Chopped half the garlic and the anchovy fillet up finely. Combine with breadcrumbs, mixed herbs, pinenuts, salt and pepper. Add a little olive oil and rub on the lamb pieces. Season with more salt and pepper if you think it's not enough.

Slice potatoes and lay them in a roasting tin, with the mushrooms, bay leaves and remaining garlic over it. Sprinkle with rosemary, olive oil, salt and pepper. Put the roast lamb on top.

Roast the lamb for about 1 hour (or until cooked). After about half an hour, baste the lamb with some red wine over the meat. Can continue doing this every 15 minutes until lamb is cooked.

Serve with simple greens like boiled french beans (because trust me, the meat is very oily).


Afternote:
1. Cooking time may be reduced, and having the lamb covered for the first half hour may be useful in achieving juicier meat.
2. Can also serve with pasta tossed with a dash of olive oil.
3. The part of lamb used in this recipe is loin