The Meat of the Matter

One of the first things that strikes me about the town of Cresco is its grocery store, of all things. Particularly the butcher’s section. Even though I grew up in a small town, I’m used to buying my meats the usual way—freshly wrapped in plastic, usually processed a day or two ago. Fresh-cut meat? It’s all done behind the scenes. Maybe you’ll have a deli shave off a half-pound of ham and wrap it in wax paper if you’re lucky.

But in Cresco there’s an actual butcher’s department. Yeah, you can buy plastic-wrapped meat but for the most part if you want hamburger, you ask the butcher for a pound of hamburger. If you want sausage, you get a pound of sausage, fresh-ground. It’s wonderful. I suppose it reminds me of the proverbial “Good ol’ days,” where people supposedly tipped their hat to you and said “guv’nah” as you passed by. Funnily enough, you never seemed to have to do that to anyone else when you passed by them. Maybe it was only the people who had hats who had to tip them and say “guv’nah.” There might be a statute about that sort of thing…

                 

Anyway, back to the butcher’s shop. I think part of the reason I like it is because I feel in control. It’s like buying vegetables at a grocery store, where you can choose the number of groceries you want and check them for freshness before buying them. With some exceptions, like pre-bagged apples and oranges, you get to test out the product before you buy it. It’s the same with meat. Plus, seeing fresh meat laid out has a very different feel than buying a pre-wrapped steak that’s already been cut and weighed. Want a pound of strip steak? You don’t have to take the pound-and-a-half or pound-and-a-quarter or whatever the supermarket has decided is the right cut. You get strip steak that weighs a pound.

                 

Maybe I’m making too much of this, but I don’t think so. It reminds me of delis, and the assurance that you’re getting something fresh. Something that was homemade. Plus, the butchers are pretty nice. They’re so willing to help that they usually ask me what I want as I’m browsing their selection. At some point, someone is going to write a comedy about an earnest salesperson and someone who shops by browsing, and it is going to be a blockbuster. At least a decent off-Broadway play.

                 

The butcher’s shop is something incredible, something that has all but vanished. When I go into a Target or Wal-Mart, there’s a decent selection of meats, but it’s all impersonal, all business-like. If your goal is to sell as much product as possible, that’s fine, but I like talking with the butcher, asking him or her about cuts of meat or if there’s a suitable substitute. Try asking the Wal-Mart employee trying to restock the cereal shelves whether flank steak is acceptable stew meat sometime and see how far you get.

                 

So if you come by Cresco, IA swing by the local grocery store. Trust me, you don’t need me to tell you the name. It’s the only grocery store in town.