Meat handlers = 'butchers'

It's alarming to see what is displayed here for sale in the average butcher shop. The manner in which it is 'prepared' is very rough. Huge chunks of meat that look almost like they've been cut by chainsaw. This is so common that we surmise this is the general standard of butchery here? I am told that due to the daily consumption of meat here, that the turnover is so high there is no need to make a big fuss about the butchering. (Really?)

There are a handful of 'gourmet' butchers in the city but the difference in price for their goods make it cost prohibitive for the average Porteno to shop at those vendors. The gourmet butchers trim their produce well (ie remove most of the fat) & kryovac seal it too, as we are used to.

The marked difference here is in the manner the beasts are prepared for slaughter & handled post-slaughter. There is no practise of 'hanging' meat here at all. The beasts are brought into the slaughteryards a few days prior to slaughter, then played music I'm told & fed well so they are relaxed when 'the axe falls'. This is to ensure they are not tense, so the meat will be tender. Once slaughtered, the same carcass is already butchered & for sale in the city's butcher shops within a day. So everything you buy is 'fresh' meat.

Also, due to the (famous) Argentine bar-b-que method, the meat is cooked over a long period of time - on average 3-5 hours - so that requires that the fat be left on the raw meat pieces. The fat gives much flavour to the meat as it's cooking. Once served, each diner removes the fat from their meat as they desire.

1 other thing I've noticed, most people at these asado's (Bar-b-Que) take way more meat from the grill than they eat, leaving platters of cooked meat leftover - for the dogs?There must be so much wastage, daily!
It seems to me that because the meat is so plentiful here that the locals take it for granted & don't value it much. The africans would be livid if they knew! Makes me wonder how long it will take for the locals to realise that food is a valuable commodity, not to be wasted enmasse like this? They've had it so good for so long that it must be unthinkable for the Argentines to conceive of a limited source of meat.