Butcher

Halal Beef Neck

500g

A 500g pack of beef neck on the bone, prepared to hand-slaughter standards and cut to order on the morning of delivery. Neck is one of the hardest-working muscles on the animal, marbled and full of collagen, so it needs three hours or more of gentle heat. Given that time it turns spoon-tender, and the bone and gelatine give the sauce real depth. Cook it as Turkish tas kebabı, Persian gheimeh with yellow split peas and fried potatoes, or the Arab beef and okra stew bamia, served over vermicelli rice. It also makes a plain bone broth for the freezer. Brown it well, add enough liquid to just cover, and keep the pot at the barest simmer; a hard boil tightens the meat.