Reestit mutton (, ) is a type of salted

mutton Lamb, hogget, and mutton, generically sheep meat, are the meat of domestic sheep, ''Ovis aries''. A sheep in its first year is a lamb and its meat is also lamb. The meat from sheep in their second year is hogget. Older sheep meat is mutton. Gen ...

traditional to the Shetland Islands, Scotland. It has been termed "Shetland's national dish"

Etymology

The name ''reestit mutton'' comes from the

Scots language Scots ( endonym: ''Scots''; gd, Albais, ) is an Anglic language variety in the West Germanic language family, spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in the north of Ireland (where the local dialect is known as Ulster Scots). Most commonl ...

word ''reest'', meaning to cure by drying or smoking. A wooden framework, called a reest, was traditionally placed across the

rafter A rafter is one of a series of sloped structural members such as wooden beams that extend from the ridge or hip to the wall plate, downslope perimeter or eave, and that are designed to support the roof shingles, roof deck and its associated ...

s of a building, from which the mutton would traditionally be hung to dry with the aid of

smoke Smoke is a suspension of airborne particulates and gases emitted when a material undergoes combustion or pyrolysis, together with the quantity of air that is entrained or otherwise mixed into the mass. It is commonly an unwanted by-produc ...

from a

peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficient ...

fire.

Origin

Reestit mutton was traditionally prepared as a way of preserving mutton so that it could be eaten during winter. It is related to similar Scandinavian methods of drying meat, such as skerpikjøt. If prepared correctly reestit mutton can remain edible for up to four years.

Preparation

Reestit mutton is prepared by soaking a leg or shoulder of mutton in brine. The correct ratio of coarse salt to water for the brine is achieved when a

potato The potato is a starchy food, a tuber of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'' and is a root vegetable native to the Americas. The plant is a perennial in the nightshade family Solanaceae. Wild potato species can be found from the southern Unit ...

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the a ...

will float in the solution. Some recipes also call for the addition of a small amount of sugar or saltpetre to the solution. The mutton is kept in the brine until the solution has reached all parts of the meat, which can take around three weeks. The meat is then hung to dry in proximity to a peat fire until the meat solidifies.

Flavour

Reestit mutton has a salty flavour, which is also influenced by the peat smoke which it is exposed to when drying. The food is considered nostalgic by Shetlanders. The first butcher to sell reestit mutton on a commercial basis in Lerwick, Shetland advertised it as having "an acquired taste that you acquire at the first taste".

Dishes

Reestit mutton is commonly used as the basis for reestit mutton soup. The soup is made with tatties (potatoes), and is commonly served with

bannocks The Bannock tribe were originally Northern Paiute but are more culturally affiliated with the Northern Shoshone. They are in the Great Basin classification of Indigenous People. Their traditional lands include northern Nevada, southeastern Oreg ...

- small savoury scone-like baked items. This dish is commonly associated with the

Up Helly Aa Up Helly Aa ( ; literally "Up Holy .html" ;"title="ay/nowiki>">ay/nowiki> All") is a type of fire festival held annually from January to March in various communities in Shetland, Scotland, to mark the end of the Yule season. Each festival inv ...

fire festival. It can also be used as the filling of a reestit mutton pie.

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{Scottish cuisine Shetland cuisine Dried meat Lamb dishes