Good quality meat: is it worth the extra few pennies? The dozen-deep queues? Too right it is. Not much beats a good local butcher (I feel a sudden need to tip the hat to the wonderful GG Sparkes down my road – they’ve helped upgrade many a morning fry up, Sunday roast or batch of carnitas in my kitchen). Because, unlike their supermarket equivalents, ethicality, traceability and quality are among the things that actually matter. Ask for the more obscure, like ox tongue or even chicken bones for stock, and you won’t get a blank look either.
Get the sense you’re missing out yet? National Butcher’s Week (12–18 March 2018) is as good an excuse as any to put that feeling to bed. Here are a few London butchers worth a visit.