I was preparing for a private catering gig on Saturday when I stopped in to Gene's Sausage to get some pork and beef and salami for what would be tasty little meatballs. As she was getting me the meat, my friend behind the butcher's glass told me tale of dastardly proportion. You see, Gene's currently has hanging in their windows a few quarters of beef; immense, big slabs of shoulder and flank waiting to be cut into more manageable pieces (though wouldn't it be wonderful to build a great fire and somehow fashion a spit large enough to spin a side of beef and roast the whole thing medium rare?). I relayed my excitement to my friend and she told me how they'd received a comment card condemning the beef; that perhaps that sort of display might fly in Europe, but that "this is America", and it was in exceedingly poor taste for a butcher shop to, um, display meat.
Yep.
This certainly wasn't the same blood thirsty person that ordered three turkeys from a local farm for Thanksgiving, then once they were slaughtered changed their mind, leaving the farm holding three dead turkeys (which, incidentally, found their way to a table via some good-spirited folk). Both examples remind me of the great Max von Sydow in Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters, talking about the inanity of television: "Can you imagine the level of a mind that watches wrestling?"
ANYWAY, this is all clearly a matter of opinion. For those who do, stop by Gene's and get a big slab of that meat. For those who don't, stop by anyway and get a jar of Biscoff Spread before it's only available at precious little boutiques--just be sure to shield your eyes while walking by the butcher case.
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