The feasts begin on Friday with the popular Cooking with Lamb workshop. This year it will be held at CKs Real Food Restaurant in Hailey, one of the area’s top eateries, with its owner and chef, Chris Kastner as instructor. A long-time supporter of local lamb, Chris will share recipe secrets and prepare inspiring dishes to encourage workshop participants to cook lamb at home and enjoy the best in American lamb at their favorite restaurants. Advanced registration is required at the Blaine County office of CSI College (788-2033).

On Saturday, at the Sheep Folklife Fair held at the Roberta McKercher Park in Hailey, the lamb events continue with Lamb Tastings. This chef/ranch family collaboration runs from 12 noon until 3 p.m. Four top chefs will prepare and discuss recipes for selected lamb dishes from lamb ribs, legs and ground meat to Dutch oven stews. At their side, members of the four ranch families who provided the lamb for tasting will tell stories of their respective sheep operations from which this local food comes, its headquarters, grazing landscapes, marketing practices and stories from the generations of ranch families that make up its history.

The restaurant chefs for this project are Chris Kastner of CK’s Real Food Restaurant in Hailey, Scott Mason of the Ketchum Grill and Heather Rogers of Riccabona’s Restaurant (formerly Felix’s) in Ketchum. These chefs provide dining experiences synonymous with fresh local foods and inspired cooking. Allan Laudert, a highly-sought after caterer, is the fourth chef. He is best known for his lamb grilled over an open fire and dutch oven pots of succulent braised lamb dishes.

Chris Kastner will be working with the lamb and family of Lava Lake Lamb and Livestock an amalgam of prominent southern Idaho sheep operations formerly owned by Pete Cenurrusa  and Jim Peterson (Carey), Louie Oneida, (Jerome) and Bud Purdy (Picabo).  In 1999, this new configuration began under the ownership of San Francisco food and conservation enthusiasts Brian and Kathleen Bean. The operation runs 6,000 ewes. Its headquarters office is in Hailey.

Scott Mason will be teaming up with the Flat Top Sheep Co. family, John Peavey, his wife Diane and son Tom. This operation, four generations old, began with John’s grandfather U.S. Senator John Thomas in the late 1920s. The ranch is headquartered 22 miles north of Carey, on land that in 1960 John consolidated to include the headquarters of renowned Scotsman and sheep rancher Jim Laidlaw. The family moves its sheep between its summer range in the Pioneer Mountains and its winter headquarters at the southern edge of the lava rock Kimama desert. Some of its sheep winter and lamb on California pastures. The operation runs 3,500 ewes.

Heather Rogers will share her gourmet cooking skills working with the family of the Siddoway Sheep Company. This sheep operation is five generations old tracing its heritage back to James and Ruth Siddoway who registered their sheep brand in 1898. Their ranch headquarters is Terreton and they move their sheep between this high desert country and their summer range in the Targee National Forest of eastern Idaho. They run 10,000 ewes. (The Siddoways will also be participating in Saturday’s Fair at the Siddoway Wool Company booth.)  

Allan Laudert will be working with the family of the Noh Sheep Company. This sheep outfit was started by William Noh soon after he arrived in Idaho by train with his family in 1908. Noh settled in the area near Buhl where the family still has its lambing sheds. The sheep company today is run by John, the son of former state senator and sheepman Laird Noh, and John’s wife Julie. They are headquartered in Kimberly pasturing their sheep in the hills south of Twin Falls. They have 2,700 ewes.

Also at the Fair, visitors will be treated to the St. Charles Catholic Church’s famous Basque Lamb Dinner. This feast has been a Valley-wide tradition since 1949 and continues to bring in lamb aficionados from far and wide. It has been the featured food event at the Saturday Folklife Fair since the Festival’s inception continuing a treasured Basque tradition and a unique culinary experience.
 
Throughout the weekend the event will highlight its popular Lamb Dine-Around at valley cafes and restaurants. Local chefs join in Festival activities by offering American lamb specialties on their menus. From the elegant to simple, visitors can enjoy such delicacies as shanks with gorgonzola polenta, lamb tacos, lamb meatballs in spicy tomato roasted fennel sauce, Hunan lamb, lamb stews, a roulade as well as an array of creatively prepared racks and chops. For a complete list of restaurants participating in Lamb Dine Around, click here.

There is something to nibble on for everyone who joins in the Trailing of the Sheep Festival fun but mostly there is the best in American lamb prepared lovingly by chefs and meat experts who delight in celebrating this distinguished food.