The following article is taken from Eye on Spain, www.eyeonspain.com

El Grumpy Gringo - At the Butchers

Butcher in Spain
What is it with Spanish women when they’re buying meat?  They’ll stand in a queue for ages and it’s only when it’s their turn that they even begin to decide what they actually want!  

The other day I had been waiting ten minutes already when the woman in front of me was served. She hmmed and aahd as she sauntered up and down the counter, asking the butcher to hold up various cuts for her. Finally she settled on liver. 

“How would you like it?” the butcher asked.

“Fino” she said. He cut a thin slice

“No! Finer than that!” she reprimanded.  He cut it so fine you could read a newspaper through it. 

“Anything else?” He asked, after he had painstakingly sliced about 30 slivers. 

She took a deep breath and started pacing up and down the counter again, tutting as she went.  Finally she replied. “Yes, I’ll have a chicken.” After choosing her chicken – the most difficult one for him to reach of course – she said she wanted it cut into pieces.  The legs she wanted in bite sized pieces for a paella, the wings and gizzard had to be cut into chunks for stock and the breasts and liver she wanted sliced finely for frying. Each section then had to be wrapped separately – including the head and feet. Next she asked for a kilo of stewing steak. 

“Thank goodness,” I thought, “this can’t take long.”

“The chunks are too big – cut each one into four pieces” she ordered.

Don’t these women own knives?  Aren’t they capable of cutting up a few chunks of meat? 

From now on I’ll buy my meat in Mercadona – okay it’s shrink wrapped and probably weeks old but at least I won’t have to wait half an hour for a kilo of mince.


 


Comments:

CommentDateUser
Sure I can relate to this, but have you ever stood behind local Catalan men in a fishmongers´ shop on a Friday evening? Women are sweethearts in comparison. They have to first discuss their hard working week. Then they remember they have come in to choose the fish for the evening or weekend dishes. Arguments (or loud opinions are expressed by others joining in)then ensue on the best way to prepare his choice of fish. Finally,his purchases are wrapped up and he is ready to depart, when he remembers he has not asked his co-male buyers what they are doing over the weekend.And they say women can talk...11/3/2007 8:40:00 PMEbroVoice
SOO TRUE OURS EVEN HAVE SEATS TO SIT ON WHILST YOU WAIT DONT GO THERE5/9/2011 11:39:00 AMabandonship
Yes, perhaps you have too wait but it's much better than having to eat the disgusting and no quality meet you find in any supermarket. It's the way to know what you eat and to COOK!!! If you cook you'll eat healthier but if you move to UK you will never ever can cook a 'cocido' or 'lentejas' or any 'guiso' because in the packs of the supermarket there is not the proper meet you need to do this. So you will end up eating the same disgusting and unhealthy things britains eat11/11/2011 9:05:00 PMcharrisca