Finlands butcheries

kiwijim · Post by **kiwijim** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 10:48 am

Has the small butchery culture in Finland disappeared?

I find it very hard to find a selection of cuts. I mainly find everything packaged and cut.

Also why is there so much pre-marinated meat in Finland?

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rinso · Post by **rinso** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 11:23 am

Also why is there so much pre-marinated meat in Finland?

marinade is cheap, but it sells for the price of meat.

mccovey · Post by **mccovey** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 3:29 pm

Also why is there so much pre-marinated meat in Finland?

Major reason is they can whack meat that is just about to spoil with the so-called marinade and get another 2 weeks out of it - just put enough garlic and salt and most people don't notice the off-taste of old stuff. The whole practice is a good damnation and documentation of the lousy 'food taste' sense of most people - as the marinade itself would never be used by any half-decent chef. I often wonder where they find the clowns who come up with the 'marinades.'

MagicJ · Post by **MagicJ** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 3:41 pm

After about 3 years of living here i caved in and bought some of the marinated chicken just to try it, so much of it is sold i thought it couldn't be too bad, could it?
Well, at least i now know not to even consider buying it again.

mccovey · Post by **mccovey** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 3:46 pm

After about 3 years of living here i caved in and bought some of the marinated chicken just to try it, so much of it is sold i thought it couldn't be too bad, could it?
Well, at least i now know not to even consider buying it again.

Incredibly horrid CRAP - the sad story is not that these crooks get away with putting the stuff out for sale - it's rather the number of people who CONTINUALLY buy it.

Rosamunda · Post by **Rosamunda** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 9:12 pm

kiwijim wrote:Has the small butchery culture in Finland disappeared?

I find it very hard to find a selection of cuts. I mainly find everything packaged and cut.

Also why is there so much pre-marinated meat in Finland?

We are lucky to have a small butcher in Raasepori (West Chark in Pohja) and there are local farms that sell organic beef, pork and lamb. And my SO hunts so we get most of our meat in the autumn and freeze it (elk, roe deer, white-tailed deer, wild boar, pheasant). In town, if I need good meat I either go to Reinin Liha in Hakaniemi or to the Chef Wotkins factory shop in Kalasatama. And then some of the bigger S and K markets have nice butchers inside. There used to be a nice one in Lippulaiva, Espoonlahti but not sure if it is still there.

Never buy the marinated stuff. It looks like it's radioactive and the smell when you open the packet is vile.

Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:37 am

mccovey wrote:
Also why is there so much pre-marinated meat in Finland?
Major reason is they can whack meat that is just about to spoil with the so-called marinade and get another 2 weeks out of it - just put enough garlic and salt and most people don't notice the off-taste of old stuff.

The orange stuff makes the meat safer: http://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/innovaati ... el/a837093
https://helda.helsinki.fi/handle/10138/36211

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:28 am

Feh. You guys are just too spoiled with modern innovations like refrigeration. Europe colonized half the globe in seek of marinate for their rotten meat. No wonder Finns are the only few nations left with any sense of a need to thrive.

kiwijim · Post by **kiwijim** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 10:39 am

Upphew wrote: The orange stuff makes the meat safer

So Finland's food handling has been poor and we all suffer because companies can't produce good cuts of meat in a safe and hygienic way? Thus covering meats in marinade....good to be safe but seriously, a better hygiene practice would make more sense.

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 12:33 pm

kiwijim wrote:Has the small butchery culture in Finland disappeared?
I find it very hard to find a selection of cuts. I mainly find everything packaged and cut.

You'll find old fashioned butchers in the market halls.

When I arrived in Finland ca 1999 I asked "what is it with all the bloody hairdressers here? Where are the butchers / bakers / fishmongers / greengrocers / delis etc?"

Thought that it was a bit odd that there are no small food shops on the highstreet... apparently the last of them died out in the 80s, replaced by supermarkets.
So it's either supermarkets or market halls.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 3:27 pm

When I arrived in Finland ca 1999 I asked "what is it with all the bloody hairdressers here? Where are the butchers / bakers / fishmongers / greengrocers / delis etc?"

Well, when you come back to bliqhty you can have a deja-wtf-feeling and go whats with all the bloody hairdresser-nailsalons/betting agents and chicken&kebab shops...

OK, theres a baker (chain), a butcher opening, and theres a market on Mondays and Waitrose got a deli counter...

sinikala · Post by **sinikala** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 5:42 pm

Pursuivant wrote:
When I arrived in Finland ca 1999 I asked "what is it with all the bloody hairdressers here? Where are the butchers / bakers / fishmongers / greengrocers / delis etc?"
Well, when you come back to blighty you can have a deja-wtf-feeling and go whats with all the bloody hairdresser-nailsalons/betting agents and chicken&kebab shops...

OK, theres a baker (chain), a butcher opening, and theres a market on Mondays and Waitrose got a deli counter...

I get there a couple of times a year. No big changes that I've seen, a few less real shops, a few more charity shops, but there are still some of the old trades around.
Here they're pretty much gone outside the market halls.

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Sep 17, 2012 6:41 pm

a few more charity shops

You need to start worrying when they start moving away

Actually, there was a motion in the local council to restrict charity shops & fast food outlets from the town

tuulen · Post by **tuulen** » Tue Sep 18, 2012 5:04 am

kiwijim wrote:I find it very hard to find a selection of cuts. I mainly find everything packaged and cut.

The reality is that fresh meat has only a very limited shelf-life, before it becomes rotten, and so butchers tend to cut meat into those pieces (selections) which are most likely to sell quickly, before the meat becomes rotten.

That does not make those pieces (selections) bad, but perhaps you could buy fresh meat and then eat fresh meat.

IOW, learn to cook whatever fresh meat the butcher's market could provide to you. And be thankful for that!

And you could always use a sharp knife to change the shape of the meat. Just use your imagination.

kiwijim · Post by **kiwijim** » Wed Sep 19, 2012 1:33 pm

tuulen wrote: The reality is that fresh meat has only a very limited shelf-life, before it becomes rotten, and so butchers tend to cut meat into those pieces (selections) which are most likely to sell quickly, before the meat becomes rotten.

That does not make those pieces (selections) bad, but perhaps you could buy fresh meat and then eat fresh meat.

IOW, learn to cook whatever fresh meat the butcher's market could provide to you. And be thankful for that!

And you could always use a sharp knife to change the shape of the meat. Just use your imagination.

Really, who knew meat would go off? Why do they sell un-marinated cut meat then, i'm talking about cuts like whole pork belly, rib roasts, sirloins, t-bone etc, the butcheries here have a tiny selection dedicate to mostly marinated pork and chicken.

I don't settle for sorry thats all we have, im the person who spends the money I want something and they can find it for me..this is what i've learnt. Don't be dictated to like a pleb, consumers have power to get what they want.

Ps Im a chef, my knives are ALWAYS sharp!

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