What cost-effective cuts of meat should I be buying?
Joe, Liverpool
“A lot of the meat price increases we’ve seen in the past eight months have gone into the cheaper end of the market,” says Ian Warren, of family-run Philip Warren Butchers in Cornwall. That’s not to say you can’t save money on meat; it’s just more a case of what’s less spendy, as opposed to actually cheap. For example, Warren suggests “a nice bit of pork. Yes, it has probably seen the biggest rise, but it’s still a damned sight cheaper than beef.”
In terms of cuts, chef Henry Harris, whose new venture Bouchon Racine opens at the Three Compasses in Farringdon, London, next week, suggests trying forequarter, or “the pieces towards the shoulder and up near the neck”. It’s great in casseroles with hard herbs (sage, rosemary, thyme), cider and pig’s trotters, which, he says, “are always cheap, and add a lovely richness”.
You’ve then got the kidneys, heart and liver, but they’re divisive: “People often say they don’t like offal – until they try it,” says Jonathan Woolway, chef-director of St John in London, which recently opened a new site in Marylebone. If you fancy giving them a go, Harris suggests sauteeing onions and garlic with lots of black pepper and some herbs, mixing with coarsely minced pork, finely chopped liver and kidney, and breadcrumbs, then binding with egg. Roll into balls, pop on top of some fried onions spread out on a buttered roasting tray, season and bake: “It’s like a peasant meatloaf full of loveliness.” If that sounds a step too far, Woolway suggests opting for pigs’ cheeks and braising them low and slow, because “they’re more approachable. Have some stock to hand, chunky vegetables, a splash of wine – nice, but not essential – and serve that with a blob of mash.”
There’s value to be found in lamb breast, too. Harris mixes “breadcrumbs, herbs, onions and garlic fried with black pepper, maybe a chilli and lemon zest”, then spreads that inside a boned lamb breast. Roll it up and braise gently until tender.
Lerato Umah-Shaylor, meanwhile, favours lamb neck on the bone, which is “wonderful” with lamb shank in her “celebration lamb, known as mrouzia in Morocco – a tagine, if you will”. The author of Africana browns her meat (which has been marinated in ras el hanout, turmeric, salt, pepper), adds onions, garlic, ginger, stock and north African spices, cooks for three hours until the sauce is “rich and thickened and the meat’s falling off the bone”, then stirs in dried raisins, apricots and honey towards the end. “Boned lamb neck is often sold diced, which is great for stews, or as neck fillet, which is best cooked short and sharp, and is wonderful in salads, wraps and stir-fries.”
Poultry prices have also risen, “mostly because of feed costs”, Warren says, but drumsticks still make a “simple, affordable” dinner. Alternatively, use the whole bird: “Roast a chicken, do lots of veg, maybe a pasta gratin, too. Everyone can then have a nice portion, but don’t offer seconds,” Harris advises. “Tear every last shred off the carcass” and turn everything that’s left over into soups and stews, pies and salads. “I mix brussels sprouts, spring onion, chilli, ginger and mayo, then scatter it over shredded chicken. Stick all that in a sandwich … Delicious.”
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