j.j. wrote:
>
> I've
> only had lamb once -- a rather gamey tasting leg of lamb at a friend's
> house when I was a kid.

I prefer NZ and AU lamb over US lamb specifically because it has a
stronger taste. To each his own. I even like goat, which is like
lamb but stronger still. Goat, the *other* red meat.

> So what would you say the texture of lamb like? Is it more similar
> to beef or to chicken or is it a texture unto itself?

Lamb is a red meat, so it is not greatly different in appearance from
beef of venison. Compared to beef the muscle fibers are smaller, so
when you cut it the grain is finer. Unfortunately this doesn't say
anything either way about tough vs tender. So to the touch it will
be mcuh like beef.

The fat is less marbled most of the time, but there is enough variation
that's not guaranteed to be noticable in any one cut. But in larger
cuts the lamb fat tends to bead along lines more than in beef. So
you can expect parts of a cut to be leaner than similar small sized
parts of beef.