207 – Understanding meat

I’ve been reflecting a lot about our expectations of our listeners in using some of their precious time to listen to our extended program. Sometimes I think we ask too much. But then I compare it to much of the noise and bluster out there and I feel like we are creating some sort of refuge for people who are curious about stories and insights from people who are deeply engaged in various pursuits.

Note To Self is a great podcast that often explores the theme of balancing human needs and human time with the fast pace and shallowness (often) of the tech superhighway and on on a recent episode, they shared a quote from Neil Postman, author of Amusing Ourselves To Death. Neil did this comparison of George Orwell’s 1984 and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World in 1985. And it is eerie.

What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture.

Meat forms some part of the diet for most people, despite prominent public discourse about veganism and vegetarianism. If you’ve ever popped to the shops for some groceries without needing to buy meat, you’ve probably noticed that your bill is much lower, especially if you are like me and always look for the prime cuts, so with Sophie Wakefield of Wakefield Grange, we’re going to explore how you can use some of the cheaper cuts of meat without skimping on nutritional value or taste.

How do you react when you hear that someone like me has rarely bought and cooked with any cuts of red meat other than scotch fillet, porterhouse, or premium roasts? What am I missing out on?

Before we get into some of your favourite, cheaper cuts of meat and some recipes, I asked some of our previous guests if they had any questions for you and what I got in return was the outline for an interesting interview. So let’s start with them.

Dougal McFuzzlebutt (he just organised the Up In Smoke BBQ competition and is heavily involved in promoting local food, and hosted us for episode 161): Why should people buy from a farmgate or reputable butcher vs a large corporate supermarket chain?

How long as Nathan’s family been working the land and raising cattle, etc?

Grant Neal (The Smoking Joint BBQ team – episode 127): How important is the breed of the animal versus how it’s raised. We’ve seen a focus on Berkshire pork and longhorn beef for example as great breeds but can the humble grass fed Angus be better? PS we think grassfed Angus blitzes a 9+ Wagyu but interested to see what drives that demand.

Dougal: How does grass fed differ from grain fed?

Jesse Donnarumma (BBQ aficionado, sells incredible brisket, and has been on our show as That Aircon Guy in episode 21): What do the cows eat during summer when all the grass has died?

Jesse: If intramuscular fat is flavour, why choose leaner grass fed beef over fattier grain fed beef?

Grant: What are your views on animal transportation to abbatoirs – how do they deal with animal stress and does stress affect the final product.

Dougal and Grant both asked about the impact of low slow barbecueing:  Low and slow BBQ has lifted brisket type cuts prices. What’s the next wave of undiscovered low cost cuts? Offal?

Joy White (who runs Homestead Lovers in Mannum where she makes an amazing range of natural food rubs and powders, and who was on episode 178): I’m pretty stoked that my Baristador Coffee is used in one of Joy’s BBQ rubs called the Bolt Action, which is why I’m keen to hear your response to her question, namely, if you could use anything in the food world to rub your meat what would it be?

Dougal asked a question that will lead us into your cuts and recipes: What do you do with offcuts and leftovers?

Jesse: I’m personally wondering if chickens and ducks are raised together or separately. (Thinking of raising ducks for their eggs

Nigel challenges the panel to pick the fake story from three stories from South Australia’s past.

Observer May 1909
TROUBLE WITH A COW.
VICTOR HARBOUR, Mr W. Porter’s cattle caused a sensation on Saturday. Drovers were bringing a herd from the estate to the station to entrain to Adelaide. The men had no easy task to get them
along. Their troubles, however, were far greater at the station, where the facilities for trucking are of. the most primitive kind. One young cow escaped and careered to the beach. She was soon
caught and tied up, while men went to finish at the station. She, however, broke loose and made out to sea. The animal swam far out toward Wright’s Island, and at last found a refuge on part of the
reef near the island.- The drovers were in a dilemma—how could they get the animal to land? They rode along the beach making the usual cracking of whips, halloos, and so on, but in vain. She
remained in her place of safety. At last a gentle man volunteered to bring back. He stripped and swam out to the island of refuge. The cow viewed the approach of the enemy with suspicion. Her
anger was roused. She plunged in, and just missed him as he dived to escape those sharp horns. She swam after him. He, of course, made for the land, and reached it safely, and so the cow was brought back.

NEWS December 1897
School Protests Against Cow’s Bellowing.
Complaints about the bellowing of a cow were made by the principal of St. Peters school to the St. Peters council , when he sent a letter to the Council at its last meeting. It was stated that the noise
made by the animal was causing an annoyance and discomfort to the students of the school. Principal Blythwood-Forbes stated quite firmly in his letter that ”Trying to teach young men is a
difficult task at the best of times. Even though we have the state’s best teachers, the constant annoying and distracting bellowing of this creature is distracting their students and making the work
of the masters unnecessarily difficult. Many of the younger boys find the sound distressing and are having difficulty concentrating in class” It was decided that the attention of the owner should be
drawn to the com plaint. Under one of its bylaws the council has the power to prohibit the keeping of cattle or goats on premises.

The Mail December 1928
HOUSEWIFE REFUTES IN JUDICIOUS BUYING CHARGE
CHEAP MEAT— MORE FUEL
Less Costly Costs More in Long Run (By Mrs. Murray Cochill)
The purchase of cheap cuts of meat suggested by Adelaide butchers and Mr. F.; W. Fillmore (general manager of the Metropolitan Abattoirs) as economic for housewives, whom they charge with injudicious buying, has another side. Cheap, meat means, more fuel in the cooking — an important issue in a city—and long cooking destroys vitamins which must he replaced, at a cost, in vegetables or other eatables. According to the butchers one reason meat is dear is because house wives will only buy the best cuts of an animal, in consequence of which the cheaper joints have to be turned into smallgoods. From observation of the patronage accorded to smallgoods sellers, however, it is somewhat difficult to see why the better cuts of meat should really be so much dearer. I have no quarrel with the smallgoods vendors for charging high prices for smoked sausages, brawn, or other cooked meats, for after all these should be regarded merely as luxuries — they are surely not necessities. But I cannot see why the woman who does not mind spending at least a portion of the day over, the kitchen stove should have to pay so much more for joints she can cook reasonably quickly while the less efficient housewife is quite content to spend her housekeeping allowance on the cheaper meats that numerous factories are quite willing to turn into smallgoods; at a price!

And our song this week is Regional Echo by Jen Cloher, selected by our musical curator, Todd Fischer.

We’re out in the country at Yankalilla for this week’s episode so I’ve decided to play a song for you called Regional Echo by Jen Cloher. Jen is an Australian singer-songwriter who also runs Melbourne label Milk! Records with her wife Courtney Barnett. Their label features an amazing lineup of musicians including one of my personal favourites, Fraser A. Gorman.

We insert a grab of Jen here, exclusively for The Adelaide Show, courtesy of John Murch.

As someone who grew up in a small country town, Regional Echo is a song that seems really familiar and relevant to me. So much so that the first time I heard it I already felt like I had grown up listening to it my whole life. She captures the Australian essence in such a direct and honest way with her lyrics, and I absolutely love one line in particular where she describes “Prawns in wheelie bins marinate a cocktail of stink.” That’s something I have experienced first hand, every Christmas after our huge family feasts.

Jen also communicates a message of small town life being a larger metaphor for small time thinking. In an interview with Stereogum she stated that “We’re not encouraged to dream big in Australia, there’s something in our national psyche that keeps us small.”