Return of pig's trotters to menu
Old Irish favourite a hit as money-conscious customers shop around By Pat Holland - 04/11/09
THE HUMBLE pig’s trotter is making a comeback. And it’s all thanks to the downturn in the economy.
One supermarket chain in Britain is reporting trotters “flying off the shelves” while a top London restaurant that put them on the menu sold out of a month’s supply in a week.
And it’s not just trotters that are marching out of supermarkets in the recession. Sales of offal and other cheap cuts of meat are soaring as shoppers strive to save.
Last month sales of diced beef skirt were nine times higher than a year ago in one supermarket chain and sales of ox cheek had shot up 225 per cent. Skirt used to be classified as offal because of its proximity to the kidneys.
Sales of pork belly are reportedly up 61 per cent on last year, while sales of shoulder joints suitable for slow cooking are up 21 per cent.
Butcher Jack O’Shea, who owns Irish butcher’s shops in London and Brussels, says shops like his are benefiting from the economic downturn.
“Bring on the recession, I say. We do a roaring trade when people start cutting back on meals out,” he said.
The butcher explained that beef fillet steak costs £26.99 per kilogram, but pig’s trotters are a bargain at a mere £1.49 per kilogram.
At a rooftop restaurant at Irish-owned Selfridges store in London, diners got through the monthly stock of 500 trotters in less than a week. An extra 1,000 had to be delivered.
• See Voice of The Irish World, page 4.
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