Interesting article, thanks.
It adds a little acid, though. And acid tastes good.
I 100% agree but if it is the taste you want to add I think you’d likely need more than the 1 tbsp (or whatever little amount) asked for in many recipes.
I was at that same grocery store today and whoever gave me this information was either mistaken or exaggerating. Ironically, today when I wasn’t looking for prime rib, they not only had it, but it was on sale. I asked a different butcher about it and he said the first guy didn’t know what he was talking about. Yes, prime rib is still quite expensive, but not ridiculously so.
A one-bone cut that would have been plenty for four was on sale for around $36, and a bigger piece that would easily have fed six was around $50. Far from cheap, but the occasional purchase isn’t going to break the bank, and this was well-marbled prime rib.
This may not be much of an answer to the OP, but I just wanted to set the record straight that contrary to my earlier comments, prime rib is very much still out there and in ordinary supermarkets and sometimes goes on sale.
Speaking of cheap, I picked up a package of lamb chops today for half price because they expire in two days. Didn’t bother me – I just threw them in the freezer because I’m going to use them to make Vindaloo lamb curry when I’m good and ready, which won’t be for awhile.
True, I normally add about 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice to a bowl of freshly made stock if I’m having it straight up with nothing but some minced green onions on top. Really brightens it up, and cuts my generally very collagen heavy broths delightfully.
Searching through the web for a site that includes a reasonably wide variety of meats, so we’re comparing apples-to-apples in terms of the sorts of decisions that the seller is making in terms of markups/glamming it up/etc. I came across this site:
Chicken hearts, livers, and gizzards appear to be the cheapest.
Chicken hearts are probably the most delicious of those. I’m not sure I’d recommend purchasing from a pet food supply, per se, but that would indicate to me that probably - if you hunt around - you could probably find hearts for the cheapest in your area. Local availability might affect it.
Searching on Gordon’s food service website, you can buy 40 pounds of chicken legs with backs attached for $27. That’s $0.68 a pound.
Around here I see chicken hearts and livers for about $2/lb, though I’ve seen as high as $4 for at least livers. Leg quarters or drumsticks are cheaper at $1/lb. I’ve always thought hearts and liver should be more expensive as that’s a lot of chickens to make a pound!
I looked at the prices for various off-cuts of meat at the local (Toronto/North York) grocery store the other day. The cheapest seemed to be pig kidneys at $1.79/lb. Pig and beef hearts were not very expensive either. Tripe was not cheap at all, starting at $5.50/lb for the cheapest type and going up from there.
Bought a pork tenderloin this weekend on sale for $3.99/lb. Gave it a spice rub with shawarma spices and grilled it. Yummy.
Is this a “mainstream” grocery store? Loblaws, Sobeys, No Frills, Food Basics?
I don’t think any mainstream American grocery stores would carry those items at all. Kroger, Safeway, Meijer, Publix, etc.
No Frills.
This would be in an “ethnic” neighbourhood (Persian, Korean, Chinese, etc.), for what it’s worth.
Bob Loblaws?
I have noticed that big chains in Canada do a lot better customization of assortment to micro-market demographics than the American chains do.
I went to a few grocery stores in an area where it seemed the population was heavily South Indian (including Indo-Guyanese/Trinidadian) but the stores did not reflect this at all. That market was seemingly left to the Indian and Caribbean stores. In France and UK I also noticed there was a lot more customization in locations of chains (Tesco & Carrefour) operating in heavily South Asian, North African or Afro Caribbean areas.
I’m a long time retail employee, so this is how I spend my vacations.
FWIW, my local Kroger affiliate (Smith’s) always has tripe and tongue available, alongside the normal muscle cuts. No hearts/kidneys/livers though.
My local farm store sells pretty much all parts of the animals or has slaughtered. It’s the only place i know if where i can buy a pound of chicken hearts. But only shortly after a big chicken harvest. And everything there is expensive.
(And actually, i can’t recall seeing tripe or brain. I’ve seen livers, kidneys, and hearts of many animals, though. Also tongue and tail)
Canadian grocers do a good job of catering to niche ethnic markets.
T&T is an Asian supermarket that became popular in Toronto and Vancouver. Loblaws, the biggest Canadian grocer, bought them out and has their products in other stores.
Canada has a growing South Asian population. Although they have many small grocers, large grocery stores carry the most popular products.
I could go into any Canadian grocery and buy frozen curry, lemongrass, shrimp paste, oxtail, liver and hearts, scotch bonnets, etc.
I’m not sure this is unique to Canada. I’ve read grocery stores carry seven times the number of products that they did just thirty years ago - a fact I find astonishing.
Is there any good recipe ever for tripe? My grandma would make it and it was awful. That and shit-on-a-shingle. I loved my grandma but was always worried when she would babysit for us.
I’m fine with offal (mostly) but never tripe.
Tripe is good in soup. Mexican soups like menudo, and Vietnamese soups like pho.
If tripe is similar to haggis, I’ve also had it when friends held Scottish poetry parties. I can stomach it, but washing it down with whiskey helps.
Tripe is a primary ingredient of Pepper Pot.