My new butcher: Kelburn Cameron Harrison
Had a lot of intermittent luck with decent meat in Wellington. Eg back in July 2015 I wandered into Preston’s and they sold me a massive slab of uncut ribeye for $22/kg.
Steak score! Found a butcher 10min walk away that will sell me unadulterated ribeye for $22/kg. Full fat, half price. pic.twitter.com/Y3jHw7l6Ap
— Some Idiot actually (@AshSimmonds) July 5, 2015
I thought I’d hit fucking jackpot! I now think the guy serving was just confused about what he was selling me and I accidentally ripped them off. Sorry guys.
The extra fat is trimmed, but the important bit in between the bone is still there before it’s “prepared” for human consumption.
If confused, this is the (most delicious) bit usually trimmed off ribeye steak before being sold. #meatporniscoming pic.twitter.com/8tL0WKp5l5
— Some Idiot actually (@AshSimmonds) July 5, 2015
If you’re still foncused, check this pic – which is pretty much the standard “bone in ribeye” with all the fat removed ( 🙁 ) that you’ll find wherever you go:
We had a good relationship for a few months, but they were really inconsistent between visits.
One month they delivered the most amazing fat-laden ribeye I’ve ever seen such as this:
But then the next week they acted like you’d be a madman to even think of ordering something like this, and it wasn’t worth anyone’s time. Bizarre.
So anyhoo decided to make a visit to Cameron Harrison in Kelburn, and Matt the frontline guy has been super friendly and accommodating. He says their primal cut meat is mostly already trimmed and prepped by the big-time abattoirs and they’re unwilling to supply “small cuts” like ribeye untrimmed “because it upsets the line”.
That’s right – they actually don’t want to do something that reduces workload because it interrupts routine.
In order to circumnavigate this, Matt had to order in a 1/4 beast that hadn’t been touched – just for my silly little fatty ribeye fetish. I was kinda worried as honestly I can’t afford to buy THAT much meat in one hit – and all I have is a crappy old fridge. But in the end it seemed like he was happy to order it in for their own sake so that was cool.
And he did: 🙂
A couple weeks ago they got in the 1/4 beast, and said they’ll hang the ribeye for me as long as I want, and I can come get it in portions as I please.
Well, today the ribeye was collected. And it’s awesome. And ~25% cheaper than anywhere else right now. DOUBLE BONUS.
This is what my fridge looks like right now.
Tell me you’re not jealous…
Then I thought “hmm, fuck it, let’s cook this stuff hey?”. Phenomenal idea huh?
It was ok.
Photos via Kat Mager who did the hard yards.
Oh, sub-bonus – apparently they just throw out all their “excess fat”, and so they’re happy to give some to me.
Go figure. :\
