We had a lot, not a little, lamb

PUT TOGETHER Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) and a dozen Tagaytay restaurants and you get a lamb-a-palooza!

Twenty-five lamb dishes from the participating restaurants greeted us on the morning of Jan. 30. We lost count of how much we ate, but we went home burping-full of both lamb and knowledge.

Last Friday, MLA held I Love Aussie Lamb, a collaboration between the body and the Tagaytay-based restaurants. Held at Elaia by Cyma, by chef Roby Goco, MLA’s “Lambassador,” the event was preceded by a butcher workshop by MLA Master Butcher Kelly Pane. The preceding event taught chefs the myriad ways one can cook lamb, beyond lamb chops and roasts.

Participating restaurants of course included Mr. Goco’s itself, but also Anya Resort, Asador Dos Mestizos, Anzani/Villa Sommet, Farmer’s Table, Gorio’s Roadside, Fatima, Reynaldo’s Smokehouse, Taal Vista Hotel, Textures by Tamayo, The Fatted Calf, and Butcher’s Steaks and Grill.

Standout dishes included the offering from Taal Vista (a lamb birria with a matching consommé; tangy), Anya’s lamb fabada (a stew with beans; comforting), Fatted Calf’s balbacua (heavy and filling in the Tagaytay chill), and their own version of lamb curry patterned after the Thais.

We also liked Tamayo’s take with lamb on perilla leaves (refreshing), and Anzani’s, with a cutlet topped up with a cool Moroccan sauce (it was certainly the most aesthetically pleasing dish). Butcher’s Steaks and Grill had a slow-braised lamb neck turned into hash; its simmering evident and falling apart in the mouth with its tenderness. Finally, Mr. Goco wasn’t to be left out at his home court with a whole roasted lamb served with a lamb paella.

Luisa Rust, senior trade commissioner of the Australian Trade Commission (Austrade) Philippines said in a speech that exports of Australian lamb in the Philippines have grown 18% year on year, culminating in 577 tons of lamb imported into the Philippines in 2025 alone. About this number, Paul Perez, MLA consultant said in an interview, “The things that we’ve planted through the years, those are seeds that are growing now.” He credits the big number to several partnerships with restaurants and chefs.

Meanwhile, Mr. Goco combats misconceptions about lamb. “Perception kasi with lamb is it’s expensive. In reality, it’s not. It’s not cheap, but with better value. But it’s not as expensive as beef,” he pointed out. “You can roast a whole lamb cheaper than a whole pig,” he said, and we’ll take his word for it, considering he had just finished roasting one.

Mr. Perez, meanwhile, pointed to the notion that lamb isn’t as popular in the Philippines due to its gamey taste. Yes, lamb has a flavor all its own, but the misconception comes from older lambs, qualified as mutton (older sheep) imported to the Philippines and passed off as lamb. He says that lamb has to be less than a year old to still be considered lamb, but strictly speaking, as soon as the lamb’s baby teeth transition into adult chompers, it graduates into mutton status.

“These misconceptions are the ones blocking it,” from becoming more popular, Mr. Perez said. “What we do now is to break down all these barriers.”

Mr. Goco talked about the nutritional benefits of lamb, including omega-3, and numerous vitamins and minerals. On food safety, Mr. Perez discussed the importance of traceability in the lamb industry (that is, knowing exactly where the lamb comes from). “It’s one of the biggest industries in Australia” after all, he said. “Anything that hits them will hit the economy of Australia.” — Joseph L. Garcia