So I trapse on over to this market. Looks dingy from the outside but it's nice and clean on the inside. There was a Somali guy butchering meat there so I asked him if they sold camel meat and he said they did, and what did I want?
I asked for a rump but they were out, but he had a shank. "Do you want?"
"Yes," I said, "let me see."
I see him rummaging about in the freezer and he pulls out what appears to be a three foot long stick, about ten inches in diameter at the thick end and the size of an average person's wrist at the other. I was pretty surprised, 'cause if you go to a "normal" butcher and ask for a veal shank they come cut already. I asked him if he would cut a big piece off the thick end and he obliged. He put it on the scale and said $16.40. I looked at the piece and decided to try my luck at bargaining.
"Sell it to me for $3.25 a pound. There's too much bone, I'm not paying that much for bone."
Of course you can't give in without a fight so he tried to downplay the significance of the bone. "Look, bone's thinner here, lots of meat."
"No no, doesn't matter, it's at least quarter bone! Look!" I flipped the hunk of meat around and pointed to the big old camel femur sticking out the big end.
"OK, I'll see it to you for fifteen."
"OK" I said, wrap it up.
Anyway, now I have a four-and-a-half hunk of camel waiting to be cooked. Gonna be interesting. :)
Kuan
I asked for a rump but they were out, but he had a shank. "Do you want?"
"Yes," I said, "let me see."
I see him rummaging about in the freezer and he pulls out what appears to be a three foot long stick, about ten inches in diameter at the thick end and the size of an average person's wrist at the other. I was pretty surprised, 'cause if you go to a "normal" butcher and ask for a veal shank they come cut already. I asked him if he would cut a big piece off the thick end and he obliged. He put it on the scale and said $16.40. I looked at the piece and decided to try my luck at bargaining.
"Sell it to me for $3.25 a pound. There's too much bone, I'm not paying that much for bone."
Of course you can't give in without a fight so he tried to downplay the significance of the bone. "Look, bone's thinner here, lots of meat."
"No no, doesn't matter, it's at least quarter bone! Look!" I flipped the hunk of meat around and pointed to the big old camel femur sticking out the big end.
"OK, I'll see it to you for fifteen."
"OK" I said, wrap it up.
Anyway, now I have a four-and-a-half hunk of camel waiting to be cooked. Gonna be interesting. :)
Kuan
