Ask me about meat

Yesterday when I was at the markets I reprised my celebrity chef routine from last week. Fortunately it wasn't with my friend from Midnight Express who asked me about garlic shoots.

I was standing at the butcher (again) waiting for my turn to elbow my way past the Italian matrons and declare it was my turn when a middle-aged Japanese man asked which was best out of the yearling rump and the veal cutlets. His English was pretty limited but his mime skills were superb. If you doubt me, try miming "veal cutlets" in downtown Tokyo and see how hungry you are by dinner time.

I explained to him that they were quite different, that the rump steak was thicker and more meaty, while the veal would be thinner, lighter, and sweeter in taste. The fact that the rump was more expensive than the veal seemed to bother him so I tried to explain that price wasn't directly related to quality, but rather to the equilibrium between the increasing willingness of producers to increase supply as price increases and the inverse relationship between price and consumer demand.

He asked me which part of the animal they came from. He understood about rump coming from the - well, the rump - but wasn't sure about the cutlets. I wasn't too sure myself so I told him the rump, which was almost certainly wrong, but I didn't want to get into the whole surface anatomy thing again in case I ended up with stockings and a suspender belt drawn on me.

I also explained to him that veal was from a younger, smaller animal, which he seemed to understand. The animal welfare arguments seemed too difficult to get into in gestures so I skipped them.

Next Saturday I will be at the markets from 10am to 11:30am, so anyone who wants advice on what to buy or how to cook it, be there! I'll be wearing a grey beanie and a friendly face.