THE NEXT BIG THINGS: collars and cheeks

I'll stick my neck out and say, hot on the heels of belly, the next big sellers will be pork collar and cheeks.

When cheeks were trialled in a restaurant as pork mignons not like Bath Chaps, a third of diners chose it and all thoroughly enjoyed it so now we are spreading the word.

There is a great deal of really tasty succulent meat of this type which is being sold abroad. Butchers in this country have a wonderful opportunity to harvest cheek meat themselves rather than seeing it go abroad. There is money in it for them.

It is lovely, relatively inexpensive meat which is perfect for steaming, braising or stewing and turns out beautifully. It would help everybody by selling more and getting greater value from the whole carcase.

Collar is also relatively undiscovered by chefs and it too has a lot to offer.

It is used in large quantities in Chinese restaurants but really deserves to be picked up by all chefs. Where the restaurant trade leads, the consumers follow.

Printer friendly version

Email this article to a friend

Bookmark this

---