Taking a Butchers

I do go to supermarkets for a number of reasons - which I might write about in another blog. Suffice to say I don't think they're a force for evil but I don't think they're all good either. I also think that their meat is hardly ever as top notch as the meat we get from our local butcher.

Bells is fanatastic. It's the kind of butcher I remember from my childhood. When I was a kid I recall my mother taking us in to a butcher on the local high street where you could find game - rabbit, pheasant and so on hanging in the window and I always associate the smell of a butcher's shop with good food, although I realise that for vegetarians and others this must be disgusting, so sorry. Bells is on our high street and inside it's classic. A black and white tiled floor complete with the obligatory sawdust and behind the counter a huge marble prep area and an enormous chopping block. Sometimes you can wander in and find a whole pig (dead obviously) hanging up on the rail around the back of the shop waiting to be jointed and prepared for sale. I used to take the kids in when they were smaller so they understood where their food came from i.e. pig = pork chops. The shop even has a separate little kiosk where an older lady sits (Mum of one of the butchers I expect) and takes the money so the butchers don't handle the ££s and risk cross infection.

I don't think buying from the butcher is more expensive though.I bought a large chicken today which will be roast and then used for stock, a kilo of lovely sausages - local Northchapel herbies and pork and chive plus 12 rashers of their own smoked back bacon. £20 the lot, which bearing in mind it's all free range compares well to the supermarket. And it tastes infinitely better which alone is worth it.

The butchers are good value too, very knowledgeable about their produce and good to chat to, something you don't get in a supermarket. Our butchers know about their meat and are proud of what they sell. You know you can ask their advice on a cut or a way of cooking or an amount for a number of people and you won't get ripped off. What's not to like?