Everything but THE OINK

What are the best ways to use up meat scraps?

S.A. Whether it’s trimmings from beef, pork or lamb, we scrape our knife over the sinew and gristle to get the pure muscle. That will get utilized in sausages, terrines, meatballs and sauces.

Give me a carnivorous example of turning lemons to lemonade.

S.A. As a prosciutto gets sliced down to the end, the last part is not visually appealing. We’ll slice it thin and make crisps.

You can use that to flavour Brussels sprouts, greens, anything.

Are there any unique butcher scraps available to the home cook?

S.A. We’ll give dry-aged beef fat to a customer for next to nothing. Brown it in a pan, and it can add so much flavour to a lot of dishes.

Here’s Stephen Alexander, owner of Cumbrae’s butcher shops, on getting the most out of your meat.