Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1884-12-04
WHY HEEr M HIGH.
An Ynstrr- .u,.h
thoughtful Butcher,

Thoughtful Butcher
From the Philadelphia star
Inauiring Of a leading butcher for a.
piece 81 d shin Of beef, FOR soup pur
poses, we we're told that he did not OF
fer such meats to his customers,
"Why not2"
Because nobody wants to buy them
The almost sole inquiry is for %sirloin,
rib roast, tenderloin and other choice
pieces"
"But there is no part of the bullock
from which such excellent soup can be
made as the shin"
81 know it, but you can't persuade
the majority Of buyers to believe that
Many of them would regard it q dis.
grace to have it known that a piece of
shin beef ever found its way to their ia
BILE. And that is one of the reasons why
l am compelled to sharge YOU % cents
q pound for the choice cut of rump and
80 cents for the best sirloin. Do you
understand"
Il don't think / do" said the jour
nalist. .
Don't you know that We buy beef
-carcasses by the pound, and that the
skins, neck and other inferior pieces all
cost the same? If we can not sell the
less desirable cuts at anything like the
price they cost us, we must necessa'
j rily charge such prices as will enable us to
make living profit. Hence the seeming
" high charges for the better cuts, Peo-
pie will have no other, and, as a conse.
quencc, We have large quantities OF the
less desirable meats on hand, which we
are compelled to dispose Of at such
prices as W. can GET
But are not these less desirable
pieces, as you call them, good and
nutritious? ?"
"0f course they are, If the American
women generally understood cooking as
they should aud were wiling TO put
themselves TO a little trouble, there is
not a pound Of meat in a whole car
cass that could not be made into pala-
table dish. But many Of them know
comparatively nothing, and many of
those who do are net willing TO give the
time required to the preparation of the
poorer cuts, when they a get a tender
steak ready for the gridiron or a roast
ing piece ready for the spit. We are a
wasteful people, very wasteful. II our
working people could but be made to
comprehend what great economy there
is in being able to cook well, they would
be more anxious to have their daughters
taught the art. Why, sir, / am con-
yinced that a moderately sklllful cook
a serve Just as toothsome dishes as
are found on most tables ut one-half the
cost of the latter. There are many
pounds Of beef now on this stall, first
class beef though not generally so con
sidered, which | will sell you at one
third thu price / am compelled TO ask
for sirloin or rump steak; meat Just as
nutritious and wholesome, but requiring
a little more skill in preparation
But that is none of my business. II
l were TO undertake TO advise | would
oon have my hands full. Hence l re-
ceiye and ill orders as they arr given,
Do you know that one-half the house.
keepers have no conception of any 9th,
er methods Of cooking beef, but TO fry,
broil, roast or boil, and yet, as every
one ought to know, beef can be cooked
a~cceptably in fifty different ways, and
in most of them without any increased
expense. l know Of several housokeep-
ers, ladies of means and refinement,
who have given the subject thought and
consideration, who thoroughly under.
stand cooking, and who are not
ashamed or afraid to be seen buying
some of these inferior pieces. / have
learned from them 4 number of recipes,
which have had tried at my own house
and have found them admirable. Yes,
sir, we are a wasteful people, especially
IN the use of meats, though for that
matter / could point Won to great i'm
providence in table furnishing in many
other d~irietions;" and, drawing his
large, keen knife over a sharpening
steel in a style that made one tremble
for his fingers, the philosophical victu-
aler proceeded to deity cut a sirloin
for a lady customer, leaving the writer
to ponder over his remarks.