The Butcher

I haven't had much meat since I've been here. It's all frozen in the supermarket and not so adequately wrapped. I 'treated' myself and tried the t-bones one week. They were expensive and not good.

An aside sorta: Halal refers to what is permissible under Islam and specifically refers to the slaughtering of meat from permitted animals - not pig - by having their throat cut and being bled out. What this means to western taste is that there's no blood in halal meat which gives it a distinctive flavor. I wasn't sure I cared for it.

This weekend we're in a lockdown situation. I was told that a very very important person - VVIP was in town - and no one was allowed to go into the center of the city. As security put it 'a credible ongoing threat here...' and there were road blocks and ID checks everywhere.

To celebrate that I wouldn't be going out to dinner tonight, I decided to visit a local butcher and try some fresh meat. Lamb was what I was looking for. The 'mystery' meat at school is called 'lamb' - if it's lamb, it's an old one.


Here's the butcher. When I pointed at one slab and asked what it was. He pointed

Gospan. Sheep.

I bought some ribs for a stew. I really wanted lamb chops, but this gospan just didn't look the part... tender that is.

I cooked and ate some tonight.

I'm back on beans, rice, and canned sardines tomorrow.