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Lakeland Beef
It doesn’t come much better….
Any chef will tell you that finding a good butcher who can cope with the demands of a busy catering operation can be hard to find. You may think this strange but many butchers are now often little more than a shop front for a factory distribution operation. Smaller, family run butchers often cannot afford to take on big customers, they are too restricted by the regulations placed upon them and the quantities, delivery times etc required by chefs at short notice. To this end it can be quite restrictive for the chef whose options are duly limited by having to go with larger, commercial businesses which specialise in supplying meat en masse. There is also pressure to make gross profit, a chef is responsible for a huge part of a business and it is therefore vital that the food is profitable. With this in mind a chef is faced with little choice when looking at price lists from competing butchers and this, I am afraid is where quality inevitably suffers.
I have been very fortunate to find an excellent local butcher in the North West, unlike many others in the area they are certified as selling Cumbrian meat which is very important to me. There are plenty of restaurants out there stating they serve local meat when half of it is Argentinian, Brazilian, Irish etc. I have never been one to jump on the local food bandwagon for the sake of it because much of what I have been offered simply hasn’t been good enough, until now. Thankfully I have a butcher who can supply me with what I want, a quality product, well packaged, labelled and extremely well butchered. All of the meat comes from farms within the Cumbrian boundries including fabulous Cumberland breakfast sausages which I have a certain fondness of!
Cattle farming, and farming in general in the Lake District is something I wish to take a closer look at, they took a battering in those dark days of BSE and it’s been a long, hard road back for those that could face the struggle. Farms and small holdings are littered across the county and I am sure there are some wonderful breeds out there waiting to be showcased….
Miles,
I can only imagine how difficult it must be to balance all the aspects of choosing food suppliers for your business, especially in these trying financial times. You obviously care a great deal about the meat choices you make — I’m thinking that the high standards you seem to have for all things food-related are rooted in your deep respect for nature. I sense all of this is woven together.
Thanks for another thoughtful post, Miles.
Melissa
February 23, 2009 @ 1:12 pm
I admire the fact that you’re “keeping it local”, Miles. I feel that it’s important that we support our local farmers, especially in these trying financial times. They have a tougher time than most of us, having to cope with adverse weather conditions in addition to competing with imported foodstuffs and a government which has lost its marbles.
February 23, 2009 @ 4:11 pm
Miles,
I echo both Melissa’s and Yenny’s comments. This very subject happened to crop up over my lunch out today with some friends. One of them telling us of a large piece of beef she had bought a a supermarket only to have been very disappointed at the lack of flavour.
I can understand the difficulties you must encounter in finding suitable suppliers. Your restaurant locations therefore must play a great part in that. As a chef it must also be a wonderful opportunity to cook with and taste all these regional variations.
You provide again a good insight.
Elsie
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February 23, 2009 @ 7:20 pm
Melissa,
I do care about what I cook and where it comes from and I think more chefs and indeed the public should get out there and see these animals for themselves. He’s a handsome fella isn’t he? Everytime I moved he followed me with a knowing gaze, he was quite amusing.
Miles
February 23, 2009 @ 7:28 pm
Xenny,
We all have to do our bit don’t we? God knows when this recession will end but these farmers are just getting over the last kicking they took, it’s going to be a beating too many for some of them.
Miles
February 23, 2009 @ 7:29 pm
Elsie,
There are joints of beef and there are joints of beef. There is unquestionably a lot of rubbish out there and the labelling is often very low on detail.
Support your local butcher, the supermarkets couldn’t give a monkey’s.
Miles
February 23, 2009 @ 7:34 pm
Miles,
I don’t know what kind of pipe the marketting man was smoking that day, but New Zealand lamb and Danish bacon?? Fantastic for the Danes and the Kiwis, but who in their right mind would want their meat frozen and shipped halfway round the world?
Keep it local. After all, from whom would you prefer a sensual back massage? Me, a few miles up the M74, or an 18 year old Singaporean girl? Okay, so that’s a really bad example but you get my point.
On a serious note, and as an insider, are there any rumblings about Lakeland beef applying for PGI status, like Herdwick lamb?
GDave
February 24, 2009 @ 2:43 am