Buying meat / poultry for refrigerated delivery?

For some time I’ve fancied buying some ‘top race’ beef - maybe Normandy - or a Bresse chicken.
I do appreciate that Leclerc sell aged beef. Much of this is ‘locally’ reared. I just want to try beef reared on lusher meadows. And I have never seen Bresse chickens round here (S. Dordogne); trying to commande one has come to nothing.
Any experience?

Our HyperU sells Aberdeen Angus scottish aged beef, and Poulet de Bresse - all for a price of course!

If not talk to your local butcher, they will probably be able to source this for you. The chances of getting small quantities delivered from a reliable source are slim.

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Hi, our Auchon supermarket has deliveries of Angus Scottish, all the cuts, rump, fillet and faux fillet etc. every Friday. This is in quite a large Auchon and the butcher always jokes with me when he sees us buying it. It is very popular with the locals in Grasse in the Côte d’Azur. We find it has much more flavour than the French beef, although some restaurants find some very good French steak.

Though Besse is good.
My personal preference for chicken :rooster: is St Sever

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I had no idea about Bresse, how they are reared etc… until this thread made me check things out…

I think I’ll stick with locally reared stuff, which wanders about, until it’s “time to go…” always tastes good… and suits my pocket.

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I’ve just had a look too. The “finishing” process is barbaric! The French seem perfectly happy to torture animals before eating their meat, whether it be Bresse chicken or foie gras.
Izzy x

Not keen on any chicken wrapped in plastic, would rather buy on the local market direct from a small local producteur.

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The local limousin beef around us spend their whole life after 6month of age in sheds getting fattened up. No sunlight or green grass. Only the cows and calves spend time in the fields with a few bulls.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to have local suppliers of meat/poultry.
There is a wide range to be found in the supermarkets and, with a little investigation, one can find a “label/marque” to suit one’s preferences.

As @PeterE points out… not all countryside stuff is what one might hope for.

Some of us, in the countryside, might be able to investigate our local suppliers and decide for ourselves which farmers are using techniques we prefer… and the techniques definitely do vary, considerably so.

Having found a good butcher and a reliable source… the locals often guard such knowledge as they do the whereabouts of cepes and truffles… :+1: :rofl:

Refrigerated meat from these suppliers:

What did you find? (Not that I’m ever likely to be able to afford one!)

I simply Googled and then read a few of the many websites where folk are rearing Bresse chickens…

I’ve had another look - because what I had seen suggested otherwise.

Finished in a wooden cage for at least two weeks. I think I’d like to see it - and see how they are - because what I’d hate may be what chickens like (for example, eating insects, roosting with a bunch of other blokes).

But, meanwhile, onto the list of what to avoid, along with chorizo and Serrano ham. :pensive:

Our supermarket has a board showing the provenance of their meat and displays the awards they received at local shows.

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Yep, there’s much more info nowadays… it’s all to the good.

Thanks for these (mostly off-topic) replies. I gather, then, that no-one has bought any of these products through the post, refrigerated?
I confess my post didn’t stress I’m looking at refrigerated, through-the-post delivery.

Thanks, Wozza, I’ll look into St Sever poulets…

Our postal service is not refrigerated…

I presumed this is related to LaPoste, being Chrono…

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Wow… never had that in our village… although I’ve seen something called Patifrais which delivers chilled pre-ordered dishes etc… they have a catalogue…

Our local Leclerc has “eco” )for économique - supposedly Lerclerc’s branding for the cheapest stuff - chickens appear from time to time in the chillers.

The price might be eco but I’ve found the taste is absolutely delicious.

Being in a rural area after a few of these I began to work out that this is local produce sourced by this Leclerc and not what comes to them through the national Leclerc supply chains.

I now hoover up Eco chicken whenever I see it and also Eco roquefort and other cheeses. Next will be a venture into their eco eggs. It’s clear these, here, are all locally sourced or possibly near-regionally. I chatted to one of the younger butchers and got a feeling the chicken may even come from someone’s garden locally. I’d like to give that person a bit more money for it given its quality.

This is not the experience when you buy stuff with the same label in the major Paris supermarkets! which I’ve also done.