Get it while it's still affordable

[fresco]

I've watched quite a few favorite food items get discovered by restaurants and food writers and rocket in price--monkfish, mussels, squid and flank steak, to name some.

On another thread, skate came up, and it occurred to me that it is bound to get discovered and appear on every "bistro" menu around--pushing the retail price up considerably.

What other modest (and modestly priced) foods do you think are about to become expensive hits?

[fifi]

I am getting very worried that beef neck bones, shanks and other parts that you would use to make a rich stock are going to become really pricey. I already got sticker shock a few months ago when I saw the price on oxtails. And that was at a local market (HEB) that does seem to carry "throw aways" for the "ethnic" market. (Of course, first you have to find a place with a butcher.) Anymore, there isn't just lil ole me poking around in the miscellaneous section of the meat case. I am beginning to think there are more people really cooking, and that means making stock. The days when the butcher would give you that bone for free, or at the most really cheap, are probably numbered.

[Nick]

The next big deal might be mountain oysters.

[foodie52]

Eww...you mean calf fries?

In 1974 when I moved back to the USA from Europe, I couldn't find veal shank to save my life. Finally a guy in the meat market where I shopped found me some...and sold them to me for around 49 cents a pound. We ate osso bucco at least twice a month for a while!

Those were the days....

With the price of beef what it is, I think people are going to explore other meats in the USA...I think lamb is going to become the next sexy meat. And duck....

[AzRaeL]

Fish Heads - Makes good Curry

Salmon Eggs - in Canada we use them as bait *LOL* In Japan, Ikura, expensive sushi topping.

I remember back when Geoduck was cheap.

[Al_Dente]

Mark my words... orangutan.

[tommy]

Mark my words... orangutan.

from sept 14 to 11/23, you used or referenced orangutans about 6 times. that has to be some sort of record.

Edited November 24, 2003 by tommy (log)

[melkor]

Mark my words... orangutan.

Orangutan tastes best deep fried whole.

[Huevos del Toro]

This has been mentioned in several threads but the most obvious is pork shoulder. I watched brisket, flank steak, bones of all sorts, etc. go from giveaway or cheap up to ridiculous. I do wish lamb would become commonplace and drop in price. Probably not much chance of that happening though. Even beef tongue has become harder to find! And real butchers are rapidly becoming a dying breed.

[Carlovski]

I'd say chicken livers - They are one of the few ingredients that taste luxurious and expensive but are still cheap.

Lamb will always be more pricey I imagine (Although Shoulder isn't too badly priced normally). Even in the UK where it is quite popular it is by far the most expensive of the 'Big 4' meats (Pork, Beef, Lamb, Chicken). On another thread I was reading (Can't find it now, think it was a discussion on the merits of mutton) a new zealander was shocked at the price of lamb in the uk.

[Bux]

I don't know if beef tongue is getting harder to find or not. To get it fresh, we usually have to order it. I do know it's risen in price considerably, but don't think it's been a recent rise. There's nothing better than a good fresh uncured beef tongue that's been braised in a rich stock and served with a bit of madeira in the sauce and some nice root vegetables, although on occasion, guests prefer not to see it displayed whole.

The problem with chicken livers is the quality usually available in most markets. It seems to be going downhill.

[Huevos del Toro]

...There's nothing better than a good fresh uncured beef tongue that's been braised in a rich stock and served with a bit of madeira in the sauce and some nice root vegetables, although on occasion...

The problem with chicken livers is the quality usually available in most markets. It seems to be going downhill.

That's close to the way I fix beef tongue. Don't forget those luscious tongue sandwiches!

I've also seen the quality of chicken livers deteriorate. I've no clue as to the cause. Are the "good" livers being diverted other places? Restaurants? Like calf fries. They're almost impossible to find in markets, most being shipped to restaurants. At least that's the reason most often expounded.

[Varmint]

Pig ears. Or not.

[Mayhaw Man]

My theory on Chicken Livers is that the livers do not respond well to the amount of chemicals in the average pen raised chicken's diet. The Health Food Store in my town in South Louisiana has organically fed livers (or livers from organically fed chickens) and they are plump and delicious. The ones that come in the little pint container in the grocery store are neither as tender or flavorful. Generally they are small and tough.

As far as delicious chicken livers go, look at Jason Perlow's thread on Jacques Imo's. That bowl of livers pictured in the thread was probably the best thing on the menu that night. They were unbelievably good. They had been browned lightly in butter and finished up in white wine and chicken stock heavily dosed with Italian Herbs (I think that's how he did it anyway). This was served with thinly sliced and buttered toast points made from french bread. The livers were cooked to the point that they were pretty much spreadable. Rachel and I mowed through them like Sherman mowed through Georgia. Jason only documented the destruction as he has a low appreciation for livery goodness.

[flybottle]

Do chicken thighs count as undiscovered? If so, I nominate them and recommend that you read Jim Harrison's "What Have We Done With The Thighs?" in The Raw and the Cooked.

[ExtraMSG]

I'd say tilapia. It seems to be popping up everywhere all of a sudden out here. Even Safeway carries it regularly while all the Asian restaurants have it live.

Goat could be one. Maybe duck, which isn't really eaten by the average person and so isn't that much more expensive than decent chicken by the pound.

[Franky2Times]

Amazon, South African and South Pacific Fish is the trend. Very inexpensive now.

[chromedome]

<sigh>

I remember when beef shank was cheaper than dirt...and flank, too. Oxtails? Holy crap, they're selling oxtails here in Alberta for $6 a pound (CDN dollars, but still...). About the only thing that's still cheap here is my dearly beloved organ meats, and none of my family will eat those. <double sigh>

I saw an interesting presentation recently from a representative of the province's pork growers. They're beginning to promote a cut called the "capicolla" (the same one they make the Italian cured meat from, apparently) which is the portion of the loin muscle that extends into the shoulder butt.

Their angle with restaurant people is to buy the butt and break out the capicolla, then use the remainder for specials (pulled pork, souvlaki, whatever). The capicolla gives you a "loin-quality" cut for butt price, essentially, as long as you have a way to use up the rest of the butt.

[Mayhaw Man]

Okra!

2004 will be known in history as "The Year of the Okra". Cultures all over the world will learn to love this under utilized and wildly misunderstood pod full of slimy deliciousness.

[Pan]

You're hilarious, Brooks!

[nessa]

Tofu. Its my new cheap protein. I get it for about a dollar a pound, for now. I made some beef meatballs last night, and 1/3 of the mix was extra firm tofu put through the food processor. The SO can't tell, so I'm not tellin'. It infuriates me that lamb is so expensive here. When I was in Germany I used to get an entire leg of New Zeland lamb for $7 dollars. Needless to say I ate a lot of lamb. And flank steak used to be my mother's favorite because it was inexpensive. When I saw the price a year ago or something, I was flabbergasted. I admit to being frugal, most of my ancestry is Scottish. When prices get high, I find something else. Nothing makes my day more than finding a sale in the meat section. Lamb isnt terribly popular in my part of town, but the stores still carry it. So when it isn't bought, it gets marked down and I pounce on it and throw it in the freezer. That goes for all good cuts of meat marked down.

There is also a grocery here that sometimes sells chicken for under 40 cents a pound. I love to stock <pun intended> up then.

[Mudpuppie]

Okra!

2004 will be known in history as "The Year of the Okra". Cultures all over the world will learn to love this under utilized and wildly misunderstood pod full of slimy deliciousness.

Out here in the land of okra scarcity, it's already expensive. When I can find it in the stores, it's often over $5/lb.

Sucks, because I haven't had much luck growing it. I like to water my plants, see.

I'm worried that cheapo root vegetables, my favorite, will soon catch on. But then again, they probably never will.