Where have the oxtails gone?

I wanted some today for a recipe I want to make. Safeway does not carry them anymore and the meat cutter told me they are very hard to come by. I will check with our locally owned meat shop tomorrow when I am in town. So, what do they do
with them? All ended well however, when he suggested some nice short ribs. I asked if he would cut me the three rib center cut and he did. I got 6 very meaty ribs for $7 and a few cents.

I wonder if your ox-tails are making their way to Europe. Ox-tail soup and ox-tail raviolis are the rage these days as is a version of boeuf Bourguignon with ox-tail. More, in northern Italy,many are adding shredded ox-tail meat to their ossobuco (mostly a veal ossobucco with root vegtables).

I wanted some today for a recipe I want to make. Safeway does not carry them anymore and the meat cutter told me they are very hard to come by. I will check with our locally owned meat shop tomorrow when I am in town. So, what do they do
with them? All ended well however, when he suggested some nice short ribs. I asked if he would cut me the three rib center cut and he did. I got 6 very meaty ribs for $7 and a few cents.

So much "bull" here in L.A. no shortage of 'em--come on down!

I wanted some today for a recipe I want to make. Safeway does not carry them anymore and the meat cutter told me they are very hard to come by. I will check with our locally owned meat shop tomorrow when I am in town. So, what do they do
with them? All ended well however, when he suggested some nice short ribs. I asked if he would cut me the three rib center cut and he did. I got 6 very meaty ribs for $7 and a few cents.

So much "bull" here in L.A. no shortage of 'em--come on down!

Bull? I wonder if it is that or the fact that it just might be Safeway's clientèle. He also told me that beef shanks don't sell, but I see them at Raley's and our local meat shop.

I'm guessing the Mexican markets would have them but I've never gone looking for them there.

I was in a Mexican market in Elk Grove a few weeks ago, and they did have some beautiful, large beef shanks. I bought them all.

We are having the same problem finding bone in shortribs.

Good grief, we might have to revolt..short ribs without bone? That is just as wrong as chile without beans! I'm ducking for cover now! Opps, that should read "chili".

What your supermarket sells is a reflection of the clientele in their neighborhood. If you were to shop at the same store in a more diverse and poorer community, I can assure you there will be oxtails and short ribs in the meat case. Also, find a local Meidterranean or Asian market with a meat counter, you will find them there. The lack of bone-in meats (I hate when the rib roast is removed from the bone, then neatly tied back on for those of us cooks who insist on having our prime rib on the bone) is because it has been decided that the social elites don't eat "messy"! So, your grocery stores, for the most part, only sell meats that can be neatly eaten with a fork and knife.

However, your supermarket is eager to please and will again stock those "lesser quality or special delicacy" meats if they are asked for by a few of their customers. But, someone behind your meat counter has decided that their is no market for them. Prove them wrong, damnit!

[Jenise]

because it has been decided that the social elites don't eat "messy"! So, your grocery stores, for the most part, only sell meats that can be neatly eaten with a fork and knife.

Funny, we arrive at the same conclusion but we get there on different roads. Rather than "social elites", I look at it as the housewives who don't really know how to cook, who are only making "30 Minute Meals", and who avoid fat at all costs since the boney cuts tend to come with their share of excess baggage.

When I went into town today, I stopped by our local meat shop and as expected, they had lots of oxtails, frozen in vacuumed packages...lots of them. Lots of beef shanks, as well. So, the guy at Safeway was leading me astray or his distributor is giving him a line, or they just don't want to carry it. Like he said, it may not have a large turnover in Redding.

Ok, here is some YUM at pennies on the dollar. http://www.deltablues.net/neckbone.html. Dis me if you will.

because it has been decided that the social elites don't eat "messy"! So, your grocery stores, for the most part, only sell meats that can be neatly eaten with a fork and knife.

Funny, we arrive at the same conclusion but we get there on different roads. Rather than "social elites", I look at it as the housewives who don't really know how to cook, who are only making "30 Minute Meals", and who avoid fat at all costs since the boney cuts tend to come with their share of excess baggage.

Supermarkets have profiled neighborhoods since Clarence Saunders patented the self-service supermarket concept in the early 20th century. The corporate inception occurred in Memphis, TN. Cheap meats in poor neighborhoods, more expensive cuts in the wealthier sections of town. Has absolutely nothing to do with anybody's culinary abilities. It's all about pocketbooks.

[Jenise]

Supermarkets have profiled neighborhoods since Clarence Saunders patented the self-service supermarket concept in the early 20th century.

I understand that. Always have. Which is why I've always loved shopping in the Mexican and other ethnicity neighborhoods for things one will never see in Beverly Hills.

Has absolutely nothing to do with anybody's culinary abilities. It's all about pocketbooks.

But here you're just flat-out wrong, Chef. The Haggen store I have been shopping at here in Ferndale does not carry the same variety of cuts it did six years ago and what has gone away is literally everything on the bone. Chuck blade steaks disappeared about three years ago, bone-in chuck roasts are now gone permanently. When I ask for them, I'm told exactly what I said above.

[Jenise]

Supermarkets have profiled neighborhoods since Clarence Saunders patented the self-service supermarket concept in the early 20th century.

I understand that. Always have. Which is why I've always loved shopping in the Mexican and other ethnicity neighborhoods for things one will never see in Beverly Hills.

Has absolutely nothing to do with anybody's culinary abilities. It's all about pocketbooks.

But here you're just flat-out wrong, Chef. The Haggen store I have been shopping at here in Ferndale does not carry the same variety of cuts it did six years ago and what has gone away is literally everything on the bone. Chuck blade steaks disappeared about three years ago, bone-in chuck roasts are now gone permanently. When I ask for them, I'm told exactly what I said above: their upscale customer knows less about cooking, and is less interested in cooking, than used to be the case. The demographic HAS changed.

Supermarkets have profiled neighborhoods since Clarence Saunders patented the self-service supermarket concept in the early 20th century.

I understand that. Always have. Which is why I've always loved shopping in the Mexican and other ethnicity neighborhoods for things one will never see in Beverly Hills.

Has absolutely nothing to do with anybody's culinary abilities. It's all about pocketbooks.

But here you're just flat-out wrong, Chef. The Haggen store I have been shopping at here in Ferndale does not carry the same variety of cuts it did six years ago and what has gone away is literally everything on the bone. Chuck blade steaks disappeared about three years ago, bone-in chuck roasts are now gone permanently. When I ask for them, I'm told exactly what I said above.

I didn't know you lived in Fernwood! I love Fred Willard!

Re everything on the bone has gone away...
How's this for a different 'slant'...the supermarkets are scared to death that one of their brain-surgeon customers is gonna break a tooth on a piece of bone-in meat and a conclave of lawyers will descend on said market & sue the hell out of them!
Oh yeah, and latest genetic news is that strains of boneless cattle, swine and poultry are being developed and will be flopping around your store in the very near future.

They went out of fashion when beef short ribs came into fashion.

because it has been decided that the social elites don't eat "messy"! So, your grocery stores, for the most part, only sell meats that can be neatly eaten with a fork and knife.

Funny, we arrive at the same conclusion but we get there on different roads. Rather than "social elites", I look at it as the housewives who don't really know how to cook, who are only making "30 Minute Meals", and who avoid fat at all costs since the boney cuts tend to come with their share of excess baggage.

I agree, and know this from listening to my non-foodie (sorry) friends as well. Have you noticed the "whole chicken" section shrinking? Our Ralphs usually only puts 3 or 4 of them out at a time. Always loads of bone-less skin-less breast, in many different varieties. Thin sliced, whole breasts, tenders, etc. Oh, and pre-marinated pork tenderloins, and sterile looking slices of pork loin. (How do you type a sarcastic "Mmmmm"?)

Where have all the oxtails gone?
No one is buying

Where have all the chuck roasts gone?
Long time to cook

Where are all the organ meats?
Yuppies find them gross

When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

(sorry Pete)

I detest boneless, skinless anything, I know they have their purpose and I do use them for that purpose, but dangnabbit, I want my bones. I did a poll of friends last week and guess what? Most of them said they love cooking and/or eating a roast chicken. A few had never cooked one but would like to. I offered a class on roast chicken!

Where have all the oxtails gone?
No one is buying

Where have all the chuck roasts gone?
Long time to cook

Where are all the organ meats?
Yuppies find them gross

When will they ever learn?
When will they ever learn?

(sorry Pete)

He would excoriate you for trivialization.

[Jenise]

I agree, and know this from listening to my non-foodie (sorry) friends as well. Have you noticed the "whole chicken" section shrinking? Our Ralphs usually only puts 3 or 4 of them out at a time. Always loads of bone-less skin-less breast, in many different varieties. Thin sliced, whole breasts, tenders, etc. Oh, and pre-marinated pork tenderloins, and sterile looking slices of pork loin. (How do you type a sarcastic "Mmmmm"?)

The shrinkage in the meat department overall is directly inverse-proportionate to the growth in the heat-and-eat section (ten years ago, if you wanted pot roast you HAD to cook your own, not so now, and they're not even frozen) as well as the pieced out animal sections vs whole sides that butchers have a choice of breaking down. Haggens doesn't even carry a classic Top Sirloin, they get something else they slice and call a 'petite sirloin' because top sirloins are "too large--families aren't that big anymore." If I want Top, I have to buy it at Costco. Another cut that has disappeared that was popular in my childhood is a lamb shoulder roast. Read a recipe recently that called for that cut and went, "oh yeah, THAT too".

I find it strange that tv programs like Iron Chef, Chopped, etc, plus tv food personalities seem more popular than anytime in my lifetime and yet fewer people seem to cook anymore. Am I wrong in this observation?