Also, for those asking about Lamb, I see leg roasts, chops, and stew meat almost every time I go to my local Coop. We just had some shoulder chops last night that were on sale.
Edit -To be fair, you're also comparing an outdoor market with a grocery stores. I too prefer outdoor markets, but they aren't the same thing. Comparing the offerings at an Austrian grocery chain to those of a Swiss grocery chain, on the other hand..
A more simple approach is simply to inject water into the meat before freezing. This often happens with chicken for example.
I know what you mean about the vain attempts at frying. The water content together with an electric stove makes it almost impossible.
dave
Apart from the one on Marktplatz I mentioned I have yet to find a good independent butcher in Basel. And as to the photo, I just liked the shop window display. There was a really great butchers stall at the Naschmarkt which I didn't get chance to photograph.
On the whole, meat here is alright - and our local Migros is "okay" - plus the folk behind the meat counter do know their stuff.
TBH the selection seemed to be either some place called "Billa" or a subsidiary of Aldi - neither of which looked marvellous.
Cheers,
Nick
Now things are getting despeate, I know farms in the UK that will butcher a cow and send it 'par avion' but I presume there are heavy import duties on this?
Does anyone cross the Swiss/German border on foot, avoiding nosy beef taxers. I used to be pretty good at sneaky-beaky in the armed forces and the idea of a 20km tab with 80kg of decent beef in a bergen is getting more appealing by the day. It would be like the great escape but with a nice dinner afterwards.
Any advice appreciated, unless it's some crap about turning veggie
As for eating Bambi, I'm originally from the New Forest (hence the name) which was the Royal Hunting ground for Bambi dinners and major exporter of New Forest Pony and Donkey AKA Salami/Chorizio. I've had my fill since I've been here but require a balanced diet. All this pork can be good for no man.
You could, of course, find some way to conceal it in your car if you want it enough. It's a bugger of a drive though, through the mess that is Basel.
Edited to add
I paid EUR 3.59 / Kg for a mixed box of chops, steaks, a leg, tenderloin and some belly.
can't you talk to your local butcher? they probably have had 5 years of apprenticeship in this country and could do most anything for you, if you asked...
Now I eat 3 or less per week of meat with less than 4% fat but think I will take your advice and eat less, and eat more veggies. However, in my search to replace animal protein with plant proteins, which you would have to do, I have tried various forms of beans (Indian, including lentils) and they were quite terrible! They were still hard after two hours of cooking, which did not make them very nice . Also, I find it annoying that nothing in nutrition is straightforward. If you don't eat meat, you need to get your protein elsewhere, but dairy is supposedly not good either because cow proteins are inflammatory and milk is still full of hormones, antibiotics etc. And if you want to get adequate levels of B vitamins (if you take away the meat source), you want to increase your bran, but of course phytates in bran and other wholemeal type foods hinder your Fe absorption! So I go round in circles. And although I eat much more veggies now as well as fruit (and less meat), I have actually become much more anaemic. Go figure .
Anyway, this is part of why I started the thread, because if the bio meat and dairy products in CH are truly of a high standard, then meat and dairy consumption would not be such a problem. (I mean, no hormones, no excessive antibiotics against udder infections and the like).
Edit: the BBC article says that the heme iron in meat (the more absorbable iron) can actually fuel certain breast cancers.
So perhaps plants are still the way to go even though the iron is much more difficult to absorb. PS. I even tried eating nettles which have Fe + Vit c and no oxalic acid, but again no long term effect.
PS. Thanks for the link to iron and veggie diets, very useful info.
Jack
For those who want to chance it on foot - I have never seen anyone on foot stopped at the border. The number 11 tram goes up to the border and the market is about a 10-15 minute walk from there, or you can get the 604 bus from Schifflande which goes right to the centre of St Louis, passing through the border with no checks. If anyone is interested in trying out the market, but wants better directions, let me know!
I have found the water content thing to be a big problem with store bought meat, such as from the supermarkets, so I tend to avoid buying red meat from them - once every few weeks buying from the market butcher is enough! I don't mind the chicken from the supermarkets, though, although I have noticed a huge difference in the size of a chicken fillet in Switzerland as opposed to France!
~ Nanda
Otherwise, I buy meat from the local grocery stores and find the chicken to be very good. I do buy bio. The only thing I refuse to purchase anywhere in Europe is beef. Everyone raves about the Florentine steak...forget it! Chewy and tough! One of the few things I miss about home...USDA Grade A corn fed beef. Oh, and the comment about iron from vegetables---only red meat (and if really necessary---liver) will do.
Amazing the Migros meat was not hung right. I mean, butchers must have known the proper technique for ages; perhaps it takes more processing time, which they are skimming on?
I did soak them for 6 hours but will try overnight next time, and add the salt properly, at the right time