Össur Skarphéðinsson, Minister of Industry, enjoyed lamb that was raised on angelica in Matís' booth (Matvælarannsóknir Íslands) at RANNÍS Science Week at the Reykjavík Art Museum on Friday. At the booth, Matís presented research on lambs raised on this plant this summer. According to the study, angel lambs have a greater spice smell and taste, while lambs in traditional grazing land have a greater lamb taste.
The project is initiated by Halla Steinólfsdóttir and Guðmundur Gíslason, sheep farmers at Ytri-Fagradalur in Skarðsströnd. They raised a certain number of lambs in a pasture with angelica. For comparison, other lambs were placed in pasture and on farmland. The aim is to raise angelica to be applied to the lambs before slaughter and to start production of lamb meat based on this method.
Angelica was previously considered a budding remedy and was also considered a remedy for all. Now the interest in this herb is resurfacing as people become more aware of the substances it puts into it. Angelica has been used to flavor food and is considered a good herb. Therefore, it is interesting to look at what it means in the taste quality of meat to raise lambs in part on angelica before slaughter.
Now that research has been done on the meat, it turns out that there is a noticeable difference between lambs that were raised on angelica and lambs that were raised on traditional summer work. The aim is to continue research next summer and, among other things, the aim is to create a field so that the taste can be further developed.