Pig trotters and ox cheeks to beat the credit crunch (From The Argus)

Pig trotters and ox cheeks to beat the credit crunch

10:41am Wednesday 24th September 2008 in News By Naomi Loomes

The cheapest cuts of meat are making it on to supermarket shelves as the credit crunch starts to bite.

Up-market stores like Waitrose have decided to introduce meat parts like ox cheeks and pig’s trotters in an attempt to win back shoppers who are feeling the pinch.

Figures show that sales at the more expensive supermarkets have slowed as price-conscious purchasers defect to places like Morrisons, Lidl and Aldi.

The cuts haven’t been sold in any quantity since the end of rationing in the 1950s.

Pig cheeks will cost just £1.35 a lb while trotters will be even cheaper at 90p.

A spokeswoman from Waitrose said: “We’re seeking to re-connect people with the lesser-known cuts of meat to help shoppers make the most of their money.”

Andy Boulton, a meat buyer for the supermarket, said: “Our mothers and grandmothers were experts at making what they had go a long way ñ but these thrifty techniques have been lost in a generation.”

The ’forgotten cuts’ are already selling out across Sussex.

Neil Underhill of Principal Meats, London Road, Brighton, said: “We sell out of pigs heads almost as soon as we get them in and we sell hundreds of trotters each week.

“We’ve been getting a lot more customers in the last few months because people can’t afford supermarket prices.”

The trotters, which are boiled and chewed, were popular during post war rationing.

Butcher Manuel Adan of Rog-Man butchers, Hove, said: “We used to throw in trotters for free.

“They are essentially the cheapest cut of meat at around 30p each or four for a pound, they’re very gelatinous and apparently really nice.”

Other butchers are selling whole pigs heads or pigs cheeks known as ’bath chaps’.

Glenn Rushman of Ben’s Butchers in Lewes said: “People can boil the bones for soup.

“We’ve had a marked increase in people asking for trotters and cheeks in the last few months. We sell the trotters for about 25p and a whole head for £5.

“The cheeks are quite sweet tasting so people tend to fry them with a bit of salt and pepper and it makes for a good value meal.”

In a bizarre turn around, the credit-crunch cuts are actually becoming fashionable.

Trendy La Fourchette, a French restaurant on Western Road, Brighton, is selling ’stuffed pork feet’ for £14.50 per dish.