Demand for sheep ears, cow udders up amid rising meat prices

ADANA – Demirören News Agency

An increasing number of customers prefer to buy offal, which is a much cheaper form of red meat, shopkeepers at the Butcher’s Market in Turkey’s southern province of Adana have said.

“Cow udder is a source of calcium and other minerals. It can be deep fried or roasted like kebabs. Nowadays, citizens tend to buy more reasonably priced offal, such as spleen and lung. They prefer this as a source of red meat,” said Rıdvan Ökmen, a butcher.

“A kilo of a quarter lamb [bone-in] costs 37 Turkish Liras [$6.6] whereas a rack of lamb or chuck are sold for 35 Turkish Liras. One kilo of deboned meat cubes is sold for 42 Turkish Liras. Even chicken is expensive,” Ökmen said.

On the other hand, one kilo of sheep ear costs only 5 liras and one kilo of cow udder costs half its price, but you have to know how to cook them, he said.

 “Low-income citizens like sheep ear especially. Those who know its taste stick to it but if they do not know the taste, they grimace,” said Kadir Çelik, another butcher.

Some people also prefer lamb or calf kidney for 25 liras and 10 liras for a kilo, respectively.

Mehmet Yılmaz, a retiree, complained about meat prices, saying his income is only 1,600 liras a month, which is less than $290.

“If it was up to me, I would not eat red meat even once a year. But my children are working, so they buy it for me,” he said.