It’s all in the bossies for Karoo lamb
The flavour comes from chemical compounds that collect in the animals’ fat
● A university professor who struggled for almost 20 years to have Karoo lamb recognised as something special helped champion his cause by farming there himself.
Prof Johann Kirsten finally saw his hard work recognised last week when Karoo lamb became the first South African agricultural product to earn an official local “geographic tag”, meaning it is now considered unique and can be marketed as such.
It also means only farmers in the Karoo, with specific shrubs growing on their land that give the meat a distinctive flavour, can use the label.
Kirsten had to overcome significant resistance in the form of legislative and bureaucratic obstacles, as well as those imposed by retailers and farmers who felt they may lose out. But the label is now law in terms of a notice in the Government Gazette — much to Kirsten’s delight.
“The [creation of] stumbling blocks — such as opposition from retailers, individuals and the bureaucracy — was quite difficult to [accept]. But in the end people saw that this [was] a process where government regulations [were] actually helping farmers,” said Kirsten.
“I always failed to understand why people dismissed the idea behind protecting something that is so truly South African, such as Springbok rugby, boerewors and biltong. It is a no-brainer, and therefore I, the academic team and [the] Karoo farmers persevered to make this happen.”
Kirsten even went so far as to buy a farm so he could practise what he preached, impressing his colleagues.
“Not only did he ensure academic and research interest in the whole process, but he also immersed himself in the Karoo,” said Dirk Troskie, director of business planning & strategy in the Western Cape department of agriculture.
“When we started with the idea of Karoo lamb in 2005, he was often confronted with the idea of being an outsider [from the University of Pretoria]. For this reason, he bought a farm in the Karoo [near Carnarvon] so that he [could] be considered a citizen of the Karoo,” said Troskie.
The gazetted notice confirmed Karoo lamb as South Africa’s first geographical indicator (GI) under the Agricultural Products Standards Act. That makes it distinct from feedlot lamb, or sheep reared on anything other than a group of indigenous, aromatic Karoo shrubs.
They include wild rosemary (Eriocephalus africanus), anchor karoo bush (Pentzia incana), perdebos (Rosenia humilis) and skaapbossie (Penzia spinescens). Chemical compounds that collect in animal fat and have a distinctive flavour are what unite these plants.
“All [of the bossies] have this typical rosemary, oily herbaceous character, which provides a very healthy and interesting dimension to the meat,” said Kirsten, who now works for the Bureau for Economic Research.
“The fatty-acid profile of Karoo meat is different [from] other meat,” he said. “There is a shorter fatty-acid chain. Basically, it’ sa case of you are what you eat.”
Retailers may now use the Karoo lamb mark to distinguish it in the same way Rooibos tea enjoys GI status in Europe.
Justin du Toit from the Grootfontein Agricultural Development Institute said the Karoo’s predominant dorper sheep were famously
I always failed to understand why people dismissed the idea behind protecting something that is so truly South African, such as Springbok rugby, boerewors and biltong
Prof Johann Kirsten, left,
Bureau for Economic Research
fatty, and the fat contained chemicals absorbed from Karoo shrubs.
“The Karoo is essentially a mix of grasses and Karoo shrubs, with a wide range of species. The further west you go, the proportion of shrubs increases. They range in palatability, mainly based on the chemicals inside the leaves.
“If you crushed the plants, some would smell unpleasant to you. But others have a nice aromatic, herby flavour,” Du Toit said, adding there was relatively little research on the link between the specific chemistry and the palatability of the Karoo bossies.
Richard Cowling, a botany department research professor at Nelson Mandela University, said obtaining the GI was a good move that might inspire farmers to look after their veld, in the same way mohair certification had prompted growers to look after their properties.
The gazette defines the Nama Karoo biome as the official geographical area for Karoo lamb, though stakeholders say the presence of listed bossies may be enough to qualify.
“Karoo lamb meat has specific aromatic and sensory attributes, which can be directly attributed to the geographical area,” the gazette states. “Various scientific studies have shown that the grazing plants from the Karoo region as defined herein impart herbal and musty flavour attributes to meat from sheep breeds of this region.
“Animals raised on farms in the Karoo region through free-range grazing on Karoo veld qualify as Karoo lamb. Proof of origin of the animals must be provided through the traceability system of the qualifying abattoirs that need to verify that all animals delivered by the registered and listed owners originate from farms in the defined Karoo region,” it adds.