$11 vs $27 Rack of lamb

Ugur Dinch

Ugur Dinch

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I normally get my meat from the butcher at the Canadian Superstore as with the rest of the groceries, but last time, I got it from www.thefriendlybutcher.com near Yonge & Yonge.

1 rack of lamb was 2.5x the price.

Gf and I were thinking "how much better can it taste?", and felt pretty violated financially. If we've added a few more pennies, we could as well eat out for that price. It turns out, for twice the money, it tastes 10x better !!
I normally don't eat the fat on lamb, but this time around, even that was truly delicious. It looked better, smelled better, cooked better, smelled better while cooking better.

I have had a lot of good meat in Turkey with my family during our travels. We would stop in these little joints in the middle of nowhere on the mountains, owned and operated by families. They'd also farm their animals themselves, in their natural habitat. That stuff was at the legendary level.

This stuff came really close to that, if not the same.

Just wanted to share and suggest. Pricey but worth it.
 
Ugur Dinch said:
I normally get my meat from the butcher at the Canadian Superstore as with the rest of the groceries, but last time, I got it from www.thefriendlybutcher.com near Yonge & Yonge.

1 rack of lamb was 2.5x the price.

Gf and I were thinking "how much better can it taste?", and felt pretty violated financially. If we've added a few more pennies, we could as well eat out for that price. It turns out, for twice the money, it tastes 10x better !!
I normally don't eat the fat on lamb, but this time around, even that was truly delicious. It looked better, smelled better, cooked better, smelled better while cooking better.

I have had a lot of good meat in Turkey with my family during our travels. We would stop in these little joints in the middle of nowhere on the mountains, owned and operated by families. They'd also farm their animals themselves, in their natural habitat. That stuff was at the legendary level.

This stuff came really close to that, if not the same.

Just wanted to share and suggest. Pricey but worth it.
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Small shops do it better. They say fresh at RCSS but that's crap, its on ice in the back for awhile. Small shops are much better than chains and the backbone of this country.. along with schools and Filipino tilt-a-whirl operators.
 
It's all in the aging process.
 
Lamb is one of those trickier things, 90% ? is New Zeland lamb at most chain grocers. Canadian lamb is really hard to find, we do produce it and its delicious. If you can find a producer that is more "organic" (often misused and mislabled) the product is even better.

Find a butcher you trust and make friends, yes it can cost the moon but if your meat dishes are important to you its worth it. If you only eat lamb once or twice a month make it memorable.
 
which rack depends on the seriousness of the girlfriend
 
Friendly butcher isn't just another small butcher. They only source free range, no growth hormone, fair trade, mostly local animals. The stuff that's been lost to industrialization. Their prices are what food should cost if we weren't cutting corners all the time.
 
Good lamb is probably my favourite meat joint out there. Good meat is not always dearer than supermarket meat. You've just got to find a butcher and not be scared of asking questions. Last joint I bought (prime rib) was about 5% dearer than a good quality chain bought joint.
 
Agreed. A good butcher shop is worth it's weight in cold. When you break it down by quality and cost per serving, the price difference is worth it. Quality, not quantity.

Speaking of good meat shops, these guys make great burgers and steaks. Warden/Eglinton area. European Poultry and Meats 130 Manville Rd. You won't be disappointed and better than anything you could get out of the boxes at a big chain store.
 
This is true of most things...a specialist (butcher's shop) is usually always better than a generalist (grocer). There's not many around near where I am now but this is even more true with fishmongers near the coast.
 
fastar1 said:
Friendly butcher isn't just another small butcher. They only source free range, no growth hormone, fair trade, mostly local animals. The stuff that's been lost to industrialization. Their prices are what food should cost if we weren't cutting corners all the time.
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This is the best part of hunting for food.
It's pure, free range, hasn't been fed unnatural foods etc. plus it ends up at our local butcher, unless my dad has space in his cooler set up and does it.

Nothing like having fresh duck for dinner that you got that morning.
 
Ugur Dinch said:
I normally get my meat from the butcher at the Canadian Superstore as with the rest of the groceries, but last time, I got it from www.thefriendlybutcher.com near Yonge & Yonge.

1 rack of lamb was 2.5x the price.

Gf and I were thinking "how much better can it taste?", and felt pretty violated financially. If we've added a few more pennies, we could as well eat out for that price. It turns out, for twice the money, it tastes 10x better !!
I normally don't eat the fat on lamb, but this time around, even that was truly delicious. It looked better, smelled better, cooked better, smelled better while cooking better.

I have had a lot of good meat in Turkey with my family during our travels. We would stop in these little joints in the middle of nowhere on the mountains, owned and operated by families. They'd also farm their animals themselves, in their natural habitat. That stuff was at the legendary level.

This stuff came really close to that, if not the same.

Just wanted to share and suggest. Pricey but worth it.
Click to expand...

You get what you pay for with meat. Last Christmas my 2 racks of lamb were $71. Totally worth it
 
OK just to clarify a few things- being a professional chef and internationally acclaimed 22 years in the biz, also living and cheffing in NZ and OZ here are my thoughts....

Lamb is a very subtle meat- one thing, you do not age it, there is no point to this. lamb is a young meat. chances are if you are paying $11 it is on the border line of mutton or is mutton(sheep) which lamb becomes after a certain age. Ontario lamb IPO is one of the worst lambs in the world- sorry but it is fattier, gamier(tastes of liver), and very un-uniform in growth. Washington state lamb is ok- similar to ON lamb but a bit less fatty. OZ lamb is 2nd best but notice that the eye is much larger as it is full of that fun GMO stuff. NZ lamb is the tastiest, most uniform, no GMO's or hormones(we call this organic, it's normal there) great fat content, and they export all of their best stuff over seas. yes you actually get better NZ lamb here than you would in NZ.

Lamb should cost you min right now $24 a pound up to $37 a pound for racks. buy NZ if possible especially if you're on a date... you won't get any with the other stuff as you will be serving a lot of fat! If you want any tips on cooking it message me. any other food questions feel free to ask!
 
Green Machine said:
OK just to clarify a few things- being a professional chef and internationally acclaimed 22 years in the biz, also living and cheffing in NZ and OZ here are my thoughts....

Lamb is a very subtle meat- one thing, you do not age it, there is no point to this. lamb is a young meat. chances are if you are paying $11 it is on the border line of mutton or is mutton(sheep) which lamb becomes after a certain age. Ontario lamb IPO is one of the worst lambs in the world- sorry but it is fattier, gamier(tastes of liver), and very un-uniform in growth. Washington state lamb is ok- similar to ON lamb but a bit less fatty. OZ lamb is 2nd best but notice that the eye is much larger as it is full of that fun GMO stuff. NZ lamb is the tastiest, most uniform, no GMO's or hormones(we call this organic, it's normal there) great fat content, and they export all of their best stuff over seas. yes you actually get better NZ lamb here than you would in NZ.

Lamb should cost you min right now $24 a pound up to $37 a pound for racks. buy NZ if possible especially if you're on a date... you won't get any with the other stuff as you will be serving a lot of fat! If you want any tips on cooking it message me. any other food questions feel free to ask!
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As a retired professional sheep shearer (yeah its a real job) and with a family still producing sheep in Middlesex county (outside LondonnOnt) lets clear up some stuff. A Lamb is a lamb till its 1yr old, then its a hogget, at two (breeding age) its a sheep and becomes mutton when butchered. Good luck getting anyone to admit how old that sheep was at the butcher counter, you can gauge by the smell of the meat , its a stronger flavour. OZ regulates meat production and call prime lamb for under 1 yr of age.
Fat content is a factor of how the animal was raised, NZ is lots of grazing and grass makes tasty sheep. Many Ontario producers will suppliment with grain and that makes for a fattier animal. Mostly because we have that thing called winter here.

NZ spring lamb is available packaged and frozen and shipped around the world, funny its always spring in NZ, 12 months of the yr. Fresh lamb is lovely, ever get fresh lamb in Canada that wasn't raised here?

Find a butcher you trust that sources his product from a packer that knows what farm it came from. They exist, and support local producers and farmers.
 
XenoVibe said:
I want a pet lamb :o
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your probation officer says no.....

and where would a shepperd get an oven and mashed potatos in the middle of a meadow for that darn pie? and who decided tortierre was anything beyond shepperds pie? its always something with the french......
 
Any one know where I can get beef BRAAAINZ? Fortinos used to sell it many years ago. No one has if anymore.


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