Another purpose of this blog is to catalog my experiences with food, which sometimes aren't all positive, so that I can avoid repeating mistakes. I think this post falls squarely in the latter category, but hopefully I can remain mindful in writing about a challenging experience.
On Saturday, we bought two pork chops from Sea Breeze Farm at the U-District Farmers Market. Brandon usually works the counter, but two unfamiliar guys were working Saturday. We asked for two pork chops, and without showing us anything he wrapped them up, weighed them, and quoted us over $30 for them. We were both taken aback by the price, but thought they must just be big ones so we'll have plenty for a couple meals (like lunch leftovers). So we blew it off and kept shopping.
Tonight, when I unwrapped the chops, I was hit with a wave of frustration and disappointment. We've really enjoyed shopping at Sea Breeze, and have felt well taken care of in the past. But when I saw two chops that were over 1/3 fat each, it made me upset. The Buddha taught that suffering comes from attachment, and I was certainly attached to the idea that I'd be unwrapping two big, meaty pork chops, and I felt the suffering caused by my attachment to that idea when I opened the paper. I very nearly cried from the disappointment, but took some breaths, called Dan up to make sure I was justified in my disappointment, and then decided to simply catalog what happened and move on with dinner.
I pulled out one of our kitchen scales and weighed the two chops, as they were: 2 lbs, 3.95 oz. (aka 35.95 oz)
Then I cut off most, but not all, of the fat, and weighed the remaining chops: 1 lb, 7.20 oz. (aka 23.2 oz)
I also weighed the fat, which came in at 13.15 oz.
Doing the math, I found that the paper must weigh 0.4 oz. (the delta between the combined weights of the fat and meat, both weighed on the same paper, and the full cuts weighed on the paper). Therefore, the fat alone weighed 12.65 oz - 35.6% of the total weight of the chops - and thus over $10 of the cost of our chops.
I expect some fat on my chops - and would find it odd to not find any, in fact. It lends flavor to the meat and helps it avoid drying out. But I believe that over 12 oz of fat on 2 pork chops is excessive, and it made me feel taken advantage of. Had I wanted 3/4 of a pound of fat, I would've bought the rendered lard they sell separately.
I have no way to know the intentions of the guy who sold us the meat, so I don't know if he intended to unload undesirable, overly fatty chops on us or not. I don't know if he took advantage of us not specifying weight to sell us 3/4 lb of fat and make an extra $10. We simply asked for two pork chops, as we always do, and didn't specify the size or type.
Given that farm fresh meats vary in availability week to week, we start the meat counter conversation with what we want generally, and have become used to Brandon (and others we've interacted with at Sea Breeze) taking the time to tell us what they have available, show us some cuts, and let us okay the meat before buying. Brandon also always seems to give us two small chops that would make a reasonable dinner for the two of us, and they come in at a reasonable price for the quality of the meat. We've appreciated that service, and were surprised when we didn't receive it Saturday - but neither of us are very pushy - and we've never had reason to not trust that we'd be getting a great cut of meat. Thus, we assumed we were just getting a couple big chops that would make for a good dinner plus leftovers for lunch. We even picked up extra potatoes from Olsen Farms, so we'd have plenty of those for lunch leftovers, too.
From now on, however, assuming we continue to buy meat from Sea Breeze Farm, we'll be sure to ask to see the meat, and we'll be more specific about weight. I never want to feel surprised and saddened like this again. Food and eating are too much of a source of enjoyment for Dan & I.
For now, I've frozen the 12+ oz of fat, and will hopefully find use for it in making confit in the future.
For all the frustration related to the chops, they were delicious. I seasoned them, coated them with a reduction of apricots, salt, pepper, and onion, and then seared them off in a cast iron skillet before lowering the heat and cooking them through. We roasted some purple viking and red potatoes to go with the chops, and blanched and then quickly fried up some green beans from our garden with a little of the apricot reduction and some red pepper flakes.
Cookbook.
