Being away for a couple of weeks the only thing I missed was my steak and tonight I made sure it was on the menu. The price of sirloin/rump steak was R149.99/kg at the butchers which is roughly 6.40 GBP or $8 if you want to compare. This is not even a special price (special 20% cheaper) either and why I refused to pay 25 GBP for a 200g steak in the UK as I cant justify the spend. The price of steak in Portugal was no better either and 2 weeks with very little red meat was a type of detox. Just think I could cook 20 200g steaks in SA for the price of 1 restaurant steak in the UK which makes no logical sense.
Going out to eat is a luxury for most of us and here in SA it is no different as everything is relative to the economy and to what you earn. A decent sized steak here would be 500g and you would expect to pay less than half the UK price for double the serving so like for like the price is 4 x cheaper.
I do not understand why red meat in Europe is so expensive and my guess it has to do with taxation and the CO2 nonsense on how much the cows fart yet an English breakfast has compulsory baked beans. This always makes me chuckle as who farts more the humans or the cows?
I raised this topic tonight not only because I missed my steak, but a message came through via WhatsApp that the butchers has tenderized steak on special tomorrow at R72 per kilogram. We all know tenderized steak is not the best quality steak hence the name tenderized. This is perfect for steak rolls however and I will be having those this weekend in a marinade along with cooked onions.
It is not surprising to see tourists flooding the steak houses in SA as I did the same thing when returning on holiday. A steak meal should not be seen as a treat and if you like your meats like I do then a weekly event of at least once. This is possibly why the kids growing up in SA tend to be of a bigger build because it is what you eat and not how much you eat.
When I was out looking at the various prices I never really looked at the meats besides the chickens which were on par with SA. Chicken is a staple food of the masses in SA and I dare say I could find cheaper if I shopped in the supermarkets for my meats, but I prefer to support a butcher instead mainly as you know what you are going to get.
The UK and Portugal was more expensive for dairy like milk and cheese and certain fruits. Bananas were identical in price when doing the conversions which tells me we are being ripped off here on that particular item. Processed foods we are not in the same ball park as Europe was far cheaper and I guess you have the numbers and in SA most people cook their own food from scratch.
I know they say you must never compare, but I cannot help myself and still cannot get over why red meat is so expensive when it should not be. You start to wonder if children have eaten steak and do they think that a processed burger patty is what red meat tastes like? My kids and grand kids rarely have fast food mainly as they were not raised on this and do not regard this as real food. Yes we could all eat healthier and we will be eating far more salads in the future to accompany the various meats and sea food.
