raw meat being tied up with string by butcher

By Stephen West

The mercury has finally risen enough to send all us fellas to rummage around in sheds and garages to seek out our trusty barbecues. In the butchery the sun gets our creative juices flowing and brings a whole new range of products for sale. Brochettes of steak, lamb. Or chicken, on sticks with peppers and onions, dusted with “Bone Sucking Rub”. Beef Satay, made with fillet tails, in a Thai style marinade with fresh chillies. Garlic and herb coated new season lamb cutlets have proven a smash hit. Greek style boneless pork cutlets and lamb chops in oil, paprika, oregano, and a thyme glaze.

Another barbecue favourite is Asado de tira, finger thick strips of short ribs cut across all five bones. The edges get all crispy when cooked over the coals, don’t forget to baste them with some herb butter.

Of course our famous burgers are a fixture for any outdoor feast. The dry aged beef with marrow bone, or our Welsh Wagyu ones are always juicy and succulent. For me though our standard beef burgers are the stars of the show. There is nothing ordinary about these bad boys, they’re flavoured with garlic, chilli, parsley, Worcestershire sauce and onion powder.

We also made Lamb and mint, and tried a new recipe with our Rose veal and a touch of sage, both got really positive feedback. It’s been a mad week for our quality sausages, we made twelve different varieties, Italian, Garlic Toulouse, Great Fire of London, Traditional and breakfast proving the most popular.

As always the true stars of our core business are our superb dry aged British steaks, hung anywhere from between six to nine weeks. This ensures they will be full flavoured, tender and succulent too.

Choose from a full range of traditional varieties, Sirloin, Rump, Fillet, Rib-eye, T-Bone all cut to customers’ requirements. One relatively new addition that has proved really popular has been the Flat Iron Steak, an American cut that’s sliced length ways from the Feather Blade. We can even show customers how Jamie cooks it on Food Tube.

Come and have a look at Jamie’s BBQ recipes, or have a nose around his chicken, beef, lamb and pork categories.


About the author

Steve West

I used to love going into the butchers when I was a kid. I remember the smell of the sawdust and watching the butchers cut a great big steak off of a rump, and being fascinated. I've been a butcher since I was at school and started working for my childhood sweetheart’s father in his butchery. Before that I'd always wanted to be a zookeeper and work with animals! In 1986 I won the Welsh Lamb Butcher of the Year award and got to give a presentation to Margaret Thatcher at 10 Downing Street, which is a definite career highlight. I’ve always worked with quality meat but never with beef that’s been hung for as long as it is at Jamie's Barbecoa, where I now work. Our dry-ageing and the fact that we're so selective about what we sell makes our products special. I haven't yet seen a single bit of meat that I wouldn't want to sell and it’s such a buzz when customers come back and tell me how good last night’s meal was. There’s quality throughout the range – it’s good being an ambassador for that.

Steve West

Tags:

British, Meat, Steak