MEAT

Good quality meat is available all seasons thanks to advanced methods of cold storage. Always buy your meat from a reliable store, where meat is selected with care and stored under the right conditions. Better if they have department where they cut meat to your specification, just in case you want an unusual cut or something which needs special preparation. Top luxury is having an old-fashioned butcher: make the most of his knowledge and skills and don't hesitate to ask about best buys.

Work out in advance how many people you are going to feed and how long you are going to spend in preparation and cooking. Be aware that cheaper cuts of meat are as nutritious as the more expensive ones; they just need careful cooking to make them tender.

Estimate 3-5 oz (100-150 gr) of boneless meat per person and 6-10 oz (175-300 gr) of meat on the bone.

BEEF

Beef comes usually from 4-5 years old steers or un-calved heifers. It is popular for its flexibility in cooking and flavor, as well as its food value. Local beef would have been more plentiful in the Fall, before modern storage methods.

All beef should be hung -for the butcher or wholesaler- for a few days to tenderize, but this process is often cut short. That's why "aged" beef, which has been hung for the allotted time, is more tender and flavorful.

Beef - what to look for

Only fresh cut meat is a bright red color. Exposure to air turns it brown, but it doesn't diminish its eating quality at all if the meat is fresh. The color of fat will range from creamy white to pale yellow, depending on the food the animal ate.

Lean meat is muscle. Texture varies with the age of the animal and the cut. Muscles used more often -neck, legs- are more coarsely grained and show more connective tissue. This meat will need slow, long cooking to make it tender. Cuts with little connective tissue -like fillet- are fine grained; they are used for grilling and roasting. Marbling refers to little fatty specks seen between the muscle fibers; well marbled beef is more flavorful.

Cheap cuts of beef are often made into ground meat. Ground meat spoils fast either use it quickly or buy the meat in a piece and chop it at home.

VEAL

The best veal comes from 3-4 month old calves which have been reared on a special diet of milk. This helps to keep their flesh very pale in color and makes for a very tender meat. The procedure has been under criticism and considered unnatural. It is more common to see meat from very young calves less than three weeks old.