turning a vege
Discussion
inspired by the chat going on regarding vege vs meat, I had a chat to the gf regarding her choice to go vege.
for her it was a morale one - simply not agreeing with the way animals were treated before slaughter. I wondered that now with the likes of River cottage and it's ethos of caring for the animals before the pot, if she would change her ways.
After reading up on River cottage she surprisingly agreed that the way they treated animals etc would have her thinking about meat again, but only if i could assure her the origins and that she missed lamb.
so PH'ers ... I need a moral butcher .. any suggestions ?
for her it was a morale one - simply not agreeing with the way animals were treated before slaughter. I wondered that now with the likes of River cottage and it's ethos of caring for the animals before the pot, if she would change her ways.
After reading up on River cottage she surprisingly agreed that the way they treated animals etc would have her thinking about meat again, but only if i could assure her the origins and that she missed lamb.
so PH'ers ... I need a moral butcher .. any suggestions ?
Go along to your local Farm Shop.
You pay for ethical, high quality animal husbandry but the results are often spectacularly good. Be prepared for the prices, though!
For example: in our excellent local place "Newlyn's" a "feeds-four" chicken is about eight or nine quid. It's slow grown which means it's been looked after and fed for at least twice the time and possibly three times the time of the cheap, but bland, fast-grown stuff you can get in Sainsurys for four quid.
It's had a far better life, been free to wander outside and had a warm barn to sleep in but it's twice the money.
Best chicken I've ever tasted, mind. You wouldn't believe it could be so "chickeny".
You pay for ethical, high quality animal husbandry but the results are often spectacularly good. Be prepared for the prices, though!
For example: in our excellent local place "Newlyn's" a "feeds-four" chicken is about eight or nine quid. It's slow grown which means it's been looked after and fed for at least twice the time and possibly three times the time of the cheap, but bland, fast-grown stuff you can get in Sainsurys for four quid.
It's had a far better life, been free to wander outside and had a warm barn to sleep in but it's twice the money.
Best chicken I've ever tasted, mind. You wouldn't believe it could be so "chickeny".
Is that compared to a supermarket chicken on a butchers one? I can't believe how much tastier ones from my local butcher are compared to Sainsburys. Visited Newlyns a couple of weeks back, it's grown a lot since I last went in there, as farm shops go it's got a hell of a lot of stuff.
Other one to try her on is game. Venison is one of the best tasting meats available IMO, and while some of it is farmed, it's not as good as wild which should be available from a decent butchers. Of course you might find she doesn't like the idea of eating Bambi, Thumper, etc.
Other one to try her on is game. Venison is one of the best tasting meats available IMO, and while some of it is farmed, it's not as good as wild which should be available from a decent butchers. Of course you might find she doesn't like the idea of eating Bambi, Thumper, etc.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Tuesday 15th December 17:38
Chicken from the supermarkets is TASTELESS.Local butchers is fed on different things as been said.
I would challange anyone (which i have done ) to taste the difference ,buy one chicken fillet from both and do the blind fold test
Also try this with any meat,there is a certain ammount of stress at the killing stage which often does'nt help the flavour and the quality of the meat.
I can't stress this enough,go to your local butcher,get to know them,where the meat is sorced and killed.
I would challange anyone (which i have done ) to taste the difference ,buy one chicken fillet from both and do the blind fold test
Also try this with any meat,there is a certain ammount of stress at the killing stage which often does'nt help the flavour and the quality of the meat.
I can't stress this enough,go to your local butcher,get to know them,where the meat is sorced and killed.
Incidentaly - if you're serious about turing her back to being an omnivore, I suggest good quality, organic meat. One of the things that really put me off meat was the processed cheap meat, with all its associated junk.
Even now, I'm a bit fussy about eating crappy meat. If you make a point of letting her know it's from a farmers market, organic, free-range, etc, I'm sure that will up your chances.
If you're nowhere near a farm shop, try the 'Sheepdrove Farm' chicken from Waitrose.
A 'feeds 4' bird is around the £10 mark, but keep all the wing tips, and any discarded bits of skin for stock. You'll get 2 litres easily of very finely flavoured stock out of a carcass and trimmings once you've finished devouring the meat.
As Don says, the 'chickeniness' from a slow-raised bird is unbelievable. There is so much flavour there, it will sex up any manner of soups, stews or risottos henceforth.
A 'feeds 4' bird is around the £10 mark, but keep all the wing tips, and any discarded bits of skin for stock. You'll get 2 litres easily of very finely flavoured stock out of a carcass and trimmings once you've finished devouring the meat.
As Don says, the 'chickeniness' from a slow-raised bird is unbelievable. There is so much flavour there, it will sex up any manner of soups, stews or risottos henceforth.
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