Hussa Ranch Lamb
Our friends John and Linda Hussa live on a ranch near Cedarville, Calif. in beautiful Surprise Valley. Linda’s a wonderful writer, John’s a third-generation rancher, and together they raise cattle, sheep, and Quarter horses. Last spring Vicki and I bought one of their lambs and found it amazingly good, wonderful texture and outstanding flavor—no question the best lamb we’re ever had. A couple of months ago we had friends for dinner and I cooked lamb shanks with Indian spices and wine, using a recipe written by Rajat Parr in Food and Wine magazine. I used the four lamb shanks from the Hussa Ranch, but worrying it wouldn’t be enough, I bought an additional one from Whole Foods. The meal was superb, the shanks, served with a cheesy farro and tomato risotto, could not have been better. The Whole Foods shank, however, couldn’t touch the Hussa lamb, it was stringy and tough and not included in the serving.
The Hussa Ranch has been producing livestock since John’s grandfather came to Surprise Valley in 1911, and it takes a sustainable approach to sheep production with the Navajo Churro breed, a species that fell to the brink of extinction twice, and is distinguished as being the earliest breed of domesticated farm animal in North America. The Hussa Ranch flock, was established in 1989 from flocks of the Ramah Navajos, and has since been raised exclusively on the wild grasses of the Great Basin, is protected and promoted in the spirit of the Navajo’s devotion to the hearty breed — “Sheep is Life.”
The churra sheep breed was brought by the Spaniards to Mexico by 1540 and it reached northern New Mexico by 1548. Its wool has been used by Navajo and Pueblo weavers for centuries, but the breed was not considered valuable by government range managers, so stock reduction programs in the mid-1800s and 1930s reduced the herd to fewer than 400 animals in the 1980s. In 2006, several non-profits joined with Slow Food USA to form a form a Navajo-Churro Sheep Presidium to promote the recovery of the breed and foster its sustainable production. There are now thousands of the breed and its flavorful low-fat meat is featured in many restaurants.
Hussa Ranch lamb, which has been featured on the menu at the Flea Street Café in Menlo Park, CA and other Northern California restaurants, is available for purchase by individuals. Processed in a federally inspected plant and certified USDA, it’s vacuum sealed and flash-frozen to insure quality and taste. Each box contains: rib chops, loin roast, frenched rib roast, boneless shoulder roast, shoulder chops, boneless leg roast, bone-in leg roast, shanks, lamb for stew, the neck roast, and Denver ribs. The approximate weight per box is 50# and priced @ $225 per box, a modest average of $4.50 per pound.
Hussa Ranch
Surprise Valley, CA
530–279-6380
lhussa@frontiernet.net
www.hussaranch.com