The latest shop to open on Deptford High Street - bucking the gloomy predictions that followed the arrival of Tescos - is this new butchers. The owner is clearly addressing a perceived gap in the market, opening up a butcher shop that only sells pork on a street where many of the existing establishments do not sell it at all.
Apparently all of the pork sold at Christine S is British, and you can buy every inch of a pig here - literally from its ear to its tail. So if you have a yearning for pigs trotters, need a sow's ear to make a silk purse from, are curious about how much meat you get on a pig's tail, or just want a nice slab of belly pork, this is the place for you.
I haven't tried it yet since I'm not a big fan of pork, but I'm happy to see that they have eschewed the presentation style favoured by lots of the other local butchers (piling it as high as they can) for a more classic display.
Incidentally if you are wondering how to eat pig's ears or tails, there are plenty of recipes around. Here's one for Jamaican-inspired pig tail stew; or just stew them and then roast them, like so. For ears, the instructions generally seem to be 'boil them for a couple of hours then slice and deep fry them' - after singeing off the hair first, of course. Here's a good guide with a few recipes. In Thailand they don't bother with the deep frying, just boil them in water, soy sauce and sugar, then slice and serve as a snack with a beer.
Pigs trotters are more 'acceptable' in the UK than ears or tails but our indigenous recipes can be a bit dull (boil for a few hours with split peas and veg for example). Hugh has come up with something a bit more exciting but still quite simple, or you can try this recipe - simple but rather long-winded - if you are not up to replicating Marco Pierre White's braised pigs trotters stuffed with chicken mousse, morels and foie gras.
I bet they are all offally nice. (sorry)
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