Wifey bought a large piece of Dexter beef from our local West Cork butcher for New Year's Day.
J often plays a game in the supermarkets when she asks the meat sellers what breed of cow is the piece of meat they are selling?
"I dunno."
Is often the reply.
Would you know what kind of meat/breed of animal you were purchasing?
I suppose you could say the same about vegetables. Do we know what variety of carrots we like? They use to years ago. It's like the old joke:
A woman asks her greengrocers for some potatoes. He's says:
"Do you want King Edwards?"
"No he can get his own!"
Any road the Dexter beef was mouth wateringly delicious. The meat just fell off the carving knife. All praise to the Irish Dexter.
Traditionally bred here in Ireland it could thrive on the smallest and poorest of pasture. Hence it's nickname "The Poor Man's Cow". They are rather like the Aberdeen Angus or the "black polly" like they say in West Cork. Not so big but delicious to eat.
Do you have a favourite breed of meat or variety of vegetable? It makes you want to grow traditional vegetables and keep traditional livestock doesn't it? Like that old Tetley's tea advert: "It's the taste".
Whenever I buy beef it is always of the four-legged variety. With potatoes I have discovered that some varieties are better for baking while others are better for mashing and others are better for roasting or turning into chips. I saw some prime joints of Aberdeen Angus for sale in a special cabinet in Waitrose. The prices were eye-watering.
ReplyDeleteI am quite partial to Manx Laughtan meat but, as it is a rare breed and there are only a handful of producers locally, the meat doesn't come to market very often and, when it does, it is not cheap. It is much darker, leaner and tastier than normal lamb.
ReplyDeleteOops, sorry I mistyped .... it should be spelled Loaghtan
DeleteSame factory, different department. It never got lost in translation. Thanks for telling us about the Manx sheep.
DeleteFour legged beef varieties are a good start to shopping YP. Although it might not be bovine. Horse is very popular on the Continent. I like going in old fashioned butchers were the meat is labelled with the breed of cattle. I recently went in Mark's and Sparks in Killarney and their meat prices must have been aimed at the millionaire market.
ReplyDeleteWhat magnificent creatures JayCee. Their horns are amazing, I just Googled them. I see they are closely related to Jersey sheep. I bet their wool makes fine jerseys?😊 The slow food movement is great. Thanks for telling us about the Manx Laughtan sheep.
ReplyDeletewhat they taste like might be as much a product of what they are fed as the breed. Having said that the breed is famous for being hardy so maybe the forage and the breed go together to produce that lovely cut you enjoyed. When will you get a couple on your small-holding? As a kid my grandmother raised a couple of calves for the table - called them Arthur and Martha, which my child's tongue changed Arpamarpa. I guess Arpamarpa tasted of the weedings and scrumpings from my grandmothers garden and orchard.
ReplyDeleteYes your on the ball Tigger with what the livestock eat. Silage fed cattle don't taste like beef fed on grass. We had cattle in the past but they never paid. Farming income depends so much on what single farm payments you get these days. We have donkeys to keep the grass down and we have a freezer full of our own chickens, duck and pigs. We are getting into rare breed pigs now. Lovely tale about your grandmother raising cattle and Arpamarpa.
ReplyDeleteI prefer my beef to be either Irish or Scottish - more chance of it being out-door raised. Chickens we buy free-range, or rather did, I think they're all still inside at the moment. Lamb - Welsh of course.
ReplyDeleteThere's some great meat to be found on our island the veg artist. Our hens and ducks are all in at the moment but we give them veg peelings along with their meal ration and they love straw for Beeding and eating. We're getting 9 hen eggs a day and that's in January. The pigs love any cracked eggs. We try to give them all a mixed diet like ourselves enjoy. Beef curry for tea.
ReplyDeleteIslands not island. You obviously think about where your food comes from and the taste? I can buy vegetables from a discount supermarket for 49 Cents and they get us through the hunger gap in winter but they are not a patch on homegrown vegetables are they?
ReplyDeleteMeat, vegetables with a name? Potatoes from Cyprus, Egypt or Tripoli. Tripoli being a city in Greece. That's about it. Beef? Greek, Dutch or French.
ReplyDeleteVarieties of vegetables like British Queens potatoes, Brussel sprouts and Nantes carrots Linda. I have tried Cyprus potatoes. I suppose you don't have a lot of pasture with your hot climate? You don't see many cattle in the Algarve. Thanks.
DeleteDexter beef is available here and is very good. I often buy beef because I enjoy it, can afford it and can enjoy it over more than one meal. Aberdeen Angus is pretty good. In France they always identify the breed of cattle you are buying from. Potatoes I buy only by variety knowing those I like and those I don't like. I would like to try the Japanese beef, wagyu. I prefer to BBQ if I am eating steak.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachel. It's great to know we all think about our food purchases and the taste especially. I have heard of wagyu. You can buy buffalo here in West Cork. Thanks for your thoughts Rachel.
ReplyDeleteThe Dexter were meant to be some temperamental beasts as well! I'm reading a great book at the moment called "The Seed Detective" about the origins of vegetables and varieties. I imagine it would be up your street.
ReplyDeleteAuthor please?
DeleteI love the red Hereford Kev. What a lovely temperament and meat. I think most vegetables came along the Silk Road from Asia and the Mediterranean and of course the Andes for our humble spud. Sounds a great book.👍
ReplyDeleteBreed and variety are unknown to me, I just buy what's in the supermarket within my budget. When I was still working, I did once try to grow heritage varieties of things, from seed bought from "The Digger's Club" but most of them didn't even germinate and those that did produced poorly. Ten plants yet only a few tomatoes? An entire packet of seeds yet only a handful of spindly carrots? I'll stick with what the supermarket provides.
ReplyDeleteWe shop mostly at a cheap supermarket River and buy what we can afford. The Dexter beef was cut in half by my wife and we will get two meals from it. I just think it's not very good that we don't
ReplyDeleteknow what kind of meat (breed) and variety of vegetables we are purchasing from our supermarkets.