The Cull Yaw Crumpet

Cull Yaw is mutton, but not as you know it.

The brainchild of our very good friend, Matt Chatfield, who first introduced us to Philip Warren. It’s fair to say without him – we’d be nowhere.

Matt cares for old sheep (colloquially known as “Yaws”” in Cornwall) that have fallen on hard times. Unable to lamb anymore, other farmers deem them surplus to requirements and they’d otherwise be “culled”.

Matt, however, has other ideas.

He buys the sheep saving them from an untimely end before whisking them back to Cornwall for a far sunnier retirement on the lush Cornish moors eating grass and nursing them back to rude health – generally having the time of their lives in their sunset years.

Given the age of the animal coupled with the amount of grass they’ve eaten, the meat has an intensity of flavour ordinarily associated only with beef.  It is dry aged rewarding us with even greater depth and, as ever, we buy the whole animal to make something of everything.

Got it on Cull Yaw, but where does the Crumpet come in?

We roast the shoulder and leg slowly overnight until it is soft and yielding before being lovingly rolled in chef’s spice mix and finding home on top of a spongey homemade crumpet. The ultimate meat-soaker!

Because, well, doesn’t everything taste better on a crumpet?!

Adorned with a lick of English mustard, some pickled onions arrive with some sharp respite and, of course, there’s a good glug of gravy to make it truly Blacklock.

A delicious start to any chop feast or perhaps a light mid-week lunch?

It’s quite possibly the most sustainable full circle meat you’ll ever eat.

Enjoy!