I couldn’t be bothered to queue at the butcher’s counter on a busy Saturday, but it didn’t seem to matter as on the shelves was what appeared to be high quality, locally produced, certificated minced beef.  The fresh meat inside looked excellent quality.

All the right labels…, so I buy it.  Today it’s time to cook ragu bolognese for the kids.  One look at the back of the packet and the list of ingredients – wait, I thought this was 100% beef.  Oh no, only 82.5% beef, then water, breadcrumbs, yeast, salt, corn starch, antioxidants and conservatives.  They got me, I must now check packaged fresh meat to see if it is 100% meat….  Thank you Continente.

I made the bolognese, adding no salt, to Rick Stein’s excellent recipe – the end result is not the same.  The sauce is too glossy as if flour has been mixed in and even without the addition of salt it is saltier than usual, plus the texture of the meat is not there plus more liquid than usual.

The moral to this story is not to be in too much of a hurry – get your butcher to mince the meat you choose, which is normal in Portugal.