TENDER BARGAINS
As the price of meat rises, cheaper cuts and slower cooking methods are growing in popularity
What’s for dinner? The answer, all too often, is, “Whatever’s fastest.” And when it comes to meats, most butchers know the kitchen’s become a no- brainer zone, favouring the least fussy and quick- cooking cuts – the steaks, chops, roasts and, okay, the invincible minced meat.
Thanks to penurious times and the rising cost of meat, which is tied to the price of feed in North America and drought conditions in parts of the U. S., attitudes toward cheaper meat cuts are changing. The restaurant industry caught the drift and changed its course and showed how delicious those cheaper cuts of meat can be. In tandem, the nose- to- tail trend in butchery brought a lot of retro parts to the table.
And it’s win- win. Cheaper cuts might take more time but they pack a lot more flavour, and with a little planning, they make for dinners that could go down in the annals of family history.
“People are much more comfortable with secondary cuts because they’ve seen it on Food Network and in restaurants,” says Karl Gregg, co- owner of Big Lou’s Butcher shop on Powell Street in Vancouver. “It takes time to prepare. That’s what’s needed.”
Gregg is also chef/ co- owner at Two Chefs and a Table bistro and the chef at Founders’ Lounge at The Cultch.
“People are always asking us about our boeuf bourguignon. They’ll buy the chuck flats [ it’s like a boneless short rib] that we make it with and then make it themselves. Chuck is typically tough if you don’t braise it. The rule of thumb with comfort food is, you can’t rush it,” he says.
( Gregg shares Two Chefs and a Table boeuf bourguignon and coq au vin recipes with us, on D2. )
“Our coq au vin takes eight to 12 hours to prepare,” he says. “Pot pies and stews, you can’t rush. Our boeuf bourguignon cooks from 10 or 11 in the evening, at 200 degrees, [ F] for 12 hours.”
I have tasted that boeuf bourguignon and I have declared it divine. For me, the greatest time saving device of all when it comes to cooking slowpoke dishes like beef bourguignon and coq au vin is my freezer. I double, triple, even quadruple recipes ( boeuf bourguignon, coq au vin, barbecued spare ribs) and put away the extra for other meals. Voila! Amortized out, it’s no longer a huge investment of time.
Gregg advises against cheaping out on the cheap cuts and recommends Triple A for the biggest return in flavour. “Triple A chuck flat is still less costly than what lesser grade sirloin would be,” he says. ( It’s $ 7.50 a pound at Big Lou’s.) Other good value cuts at his butcher shop? Beef liver for $ 2.95 a pound, oxtail ($ 5 a pound) and how about beef tongue ($ 5.99 a pound).
With more interest in secondary cuts, he’s working on hard- to- find cuts like denver, hanger and flat iron. “I’d have a hanger steak every day if I could,” he says.
At Windsor Meats on Main Street, Connor Freeman, 26, is a third- generation butcher and for him and his peers, secondary cuts are the nobrainers. “It used to be easier to throw a steak on the barbie, a roast in the oven. Steaks aren’t as popular as they used to be,” he says. “Before, people rarely purchased shanks or oxtails. Shanks used to be ground up before.”
“Now, there’s a bunch of new cuts people don’t know much about from the shoulder and leg. We always knew they were there. It’s knowing how to get them out. They would have been cut up for stew before and it takes a while to get them out [ whole].”
The new cuts he speaks of are the denver, flat iron and skirt steak cuts as well the hanging tender or hanger steak. “The hanger has the same graininess and beefy flavour as flank steak. It compares to a rib- eye in flavour. It’s a muscle that holds in part of the stomach,” he says.
The flat iron is from a little muscle group in the shoulder. “You won’t find it in many butcher shops until demand grows. It’s another cut that was cut up and used for stew meat. Not many people know of it but once it catches on, they’ll ask for it,” he says. However, unlike rib- eyes which are 16 to a steer, you only get two skirt steaks so it’ll always be a specialty item. Windsor Meats sells these Triple A cuts for about $ 10 a pound.
Brisket, Freeman says, has always been relatively popular. “It’s really popular with people who are really into barbecuing and smoking. One guy’s in here every three weeks for a whole brisket, which is about 13 to 14 pounds.”
There’s not a huge demand for offal but Freeman is a big fan. “I love liver, kidney and brain. I’ll eat it all but it has to be cooked properly. We could special- order anything like that in for customers.”
At Big Lou’s customers tend to be adventurous. “Definitely, our younger clientele and more foodie- oriented ones are becoming comfortable with it, especially lamb kidneys and lamb heart,” says Gregg. “They’ll make pies or sausages. Lamb is less gamy and has a better flavour profile.”
Pork, which is raised locally, has always been a good- value meat but demand is growing. “Look at the popularity of pulled pork from the butt or shoulder,” says Gregg. “Tons of people are asking for it.” Access to good quality, flavourful pork from farms like Sloping Hill and Paradise Valley has really helped boost sales, he says. “You can see the difference in texture, colour and flavour. With pork, unless it’s tenderloin or chops, you cook it low and slow.
And just to show how tastes have changed, Gregg gives an example. “Once we put prairie oysters [ testicles] on the menu and we were kinda chuckling, wondering if anyone was going to order them. We sold out 20 orders in two days. They were great, fried with aioli. It’s great when we can work with different things like that.”