Great British Menu - BBC2 food programme

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 9:14 am

Just in case you don't know, Dexter beef is in the final of the Great British Menu on this Friday 6th April 2007, BBC2 6.30 p.m. Sat Bains is the chef.

Link to BBC web site Great British Menu

PS. Nothing to do with us by the way, just good timing!

forestblaze · Post by **forestblaze** » Fri Apr 06, 2007 7:06 pm

Thank goodness they didnt mention Dexter beef looking forward to our dinner party sunday not an onion in sight !!!!:(

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 8:32 am

I'm inclined to agree, forestblaze, but then a lot of modern recipes leave me with a distinct lack of appetite. Either that or I don't recognise the ingredients!! At least it wasn't covered in raspberry vinegar.

However I did think when watching the programme what an enormous uphill struggle it will be to get Dexter beef into the public mind. I think only Aberdeen Angus has managed it so far. Didn't they have restaurants, Aberdeen Angus Steak House or something? And possibly Welsh Black (although this is somewhat confused with Welsh Beef which covers all beef grown in Wales). Someone briefly hit the headlines with a breed I've forgotten which was being fed on beer and massaged and sold to Harrods for astronomical prices. But otherwise, except for the converted, beef is beef. Or organic beef. And Dexters, however much we love the breed, cannot compete weight for weight with the others.

Kathy Millar · Post by **Kathy Millar** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:14 pm

...but I can imagine the ads....Dexter Delicious, the small cow with the big flavour.... :laugh:

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 4:29 pm

Kathy - I love that punch line. It's not copyright is it?

Sorry - I said it was the final. That was what I was told and I didn't check.

We can never compete with Angus, and probably a lot or most of us will be grateful for that, but if we can just swing the balance a bit and get a few more people into the niche market that we have, then I would be very happy.

MAB · Post by **MAB** » Sat Apr 07, 2007 10:13 pm

Sylvia wrote:is somewhat confused with Welsh Beef which covers all beef grown in Wales

If only it was as simple as that!!

I think you will find Welsh Beef is processed in Wales, not necessarily grown in Wales. My wife used to work for a large farming estate in the English midlands that sold animals to a buyer who shipped the animals to Somerset to be killed and then they were taken to Scotland to be butchered and the meat was sold as Scottish Beef!

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 8:37 am

I bow to your superior knowlege MAB. I'm not sure how the people who are very successfully marketing Welsh Beef (and Lamb) with 2 attractive TV adverts would react to the idea that the meat featured may have come from anywhere and has just been butchered here. Particularly as they also claim, I believe in other adverts, that it is the lush green grass of Wales which is responsible for the quality. If I can find the right person, and the time, I might just ask. Or maybe you'd like to?

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 9:37 am

Rob hit the nail of the head (in another topic I think). You can't seem to trust any standards, or marketing "badges". Going and see the farm for yourself, or knowing someone who has, seems to be the only way to ensure what you are getting.

forestblaze · Post by **forestblaze** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 12:38 pm

Has R ick Steins food heros book helped with sales of Dexter beef,I know it created interest in our produce?

Rob R · Post by **Rob R** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 2:27 pm

Broomcroft wrote:Rob hit the nail of the head (in another topic I think). You can't seem to trust any standards, or marketing "badges". Going and see the farm for yourself, or knowing someone who has, seems to be the only way to ensure what you are getting.

That's the whole idea behind the http://www.wholesomefood.org/ (Wholesome Food Association), based on a pledge, rather than an inspection, the symbol shows that you are willing to let people see your production first hand which keeps the cost down & all fees go into promotion instead of inspection.

Kathy Millar · Post by **Kathy Millar** » Sun Apr 08, 2007 5:22 pm

Clive, I just made up that line about Dexter delicious. Feel free to use it! :D

Linhill · Post by **Linhill** » Mon Apr 09, 2007 4:03 pm

The slogan we use on our banner at Farmers Markets is

The little cow thats BIG on taste

Inger · Post by **Inger** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:01 am

Sylvia, you don't mean Wagyu by any chance? They came from Japan originally. Very highly marbled.

Sylvia · Post by **Sylvia** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 1:13 pm

Hello Inger, I googled Wagyu which didn't ring any bells but then found Kobe which did. Mince at only £11 per kilo from Lucies Farm. Beef produced by feeding grain and beer and massaging animals with saki. I wonder how it compares with good old grass fed Dexter?

Broomcroft · Post by **Broomcroft** » Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:13 pm

I looked at Wagyu / Kobe on the web. Apparently, so they say, the highest price ever paid for a carcass (butchered not live) was $250,000! I also found some photos of the meat and it looks like a spiders web, quite unreal.

I had a Dexter cow once that was extremely fat, and the meat from her calves looked like Wagyu in the pictures on the web. So I culled the cow!!!

Somebody once said to me that there was a link between Dexter and Wagyu. Or am I just dreaming?