European Meats Story

[robin_d_laws]

Scene: European Meats, a large butcher shop in Kensington Market, Toronto. A short, silver-haired man in a flat cap examines a tray of very smoked meats I am too far away to identify. The woman behind the counter prompts him to pick one

Comments

[tallarn]

As an Englishman, I had no idea that European Meats were a speciality. What's so great about European meats that you can't get in a US meat? Genuinely curious.

Thinking about it, I can't think of any American meats being sold in shops in the UK. Is the general quality lower or do they come spiced, or what?

[robin_d_laws]

European Meats is just the name of the establishment. It offers basic cuts, with better quality and lower prices than you'd get in a supermarket. There's a bit of an Eastern Europe tilt to the sliced meats and a few of the cuts, but they also nod to other parts of the world, with items like chorizo sausages. I'm sure the meat comes from animals raised here in Canada, with maybe the odd US import.

http://www.europeanmeats.com/home.htm

[richardthinks]

As an Englishman now residing in the US, I can answer that question in more detail than you want (note: my comments may not hold for Canada, on which I have no information):

Salt. Flavour. Variety. Actual smoking, rather than a coloured, flavoured chemical smoke-dip.

Sausages, with all the qualities noted above.

In all seriousness, American tastes in prepared meats are very, very different from English and more especially, French, Spanish, German and Eastern European tastes. Outside major urban centres, it's difficult to get more than a couple of varieties of ham, which are almost always sweet, with maple syrup, honey, brown sugar or whatever it is that goes in BBQ sauce. There are exactly 4 types of sausage: Bob Evans patties (like Asda burgers), Hot Italian and Sweet Italian (both are sweet, one contains chili), and Pepperoni. In general, flavours are subdued, texture is spongy, and the use of injections of water to increase bulk is obvious