Long time listener first time caller!

What your butcher says is pretty much true, NZ Lamb is butchered slightly differently in that they remove the shank /knuckle from the shoulder to sell separately but leave the neck fillet on. British lamb tends to be butchered the other way round so the shank is left on the shoulder for sale and the fillet removed.
NZ lamb is not necessarily frozen, it is quite easy to transport fresh meat half way around the world in a refigerated container.

Went boat fising on Saturday for the first time since November and managed to bag some nice, prime Summer cod (63 between us).



If only cod fishing was like this all the time, we were a lot closer to the French coast than the English coasthttps://scontent-b-cdg.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/10463869_801194639899569_6766883941502417585_n.jpg" >

I've got four fillets currently at the smokers (cost 40p per lb), two are in the fridge salting down for carpaccio of salt cod with capers, chillies and preserved lemon. This is what they look like nowhttps://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/t1.0-9/10354626_739027906170327_3130553666808152152_n.jpg" >

The rest of them have all been vacuum sealed and frozen down.

I roasted four of the heads this morning in shallots, garlic and chillies

Beforehttps://scontent-a-cdg.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t1.0-9/10415679_739028086170309_7826939761037151018_n.jpg" >

Afterhttps://scontent-b-cdg.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/10420246_739217706151347_5123710023076356873_n.jpg" >

What was lefthttps://scontent-a-cdg.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/10388095_739251396147978_6096208613809661598_n.jpg" >

Last weekend I had Aliccia over to stay and she loves her fish, so I cooked a couple of turbot fillets (each weighing over 450g and I've still got another two just like 'em off the same fish), steamed in white wine with spring onions, cherry plum tomatoes, lime zest and dill and served them with pan-seared Manx Bay king scallopshttps://scontent-a-cdg.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t1.0-9/10311717_735280553211729_2249962796731036909_n.jpg" >

Hang on, it was you who said they wouldn't eat cod not that long ago...

I won't eat cod bought from anywhere, I only eat cod I've caught myself. That way I know it is in prime condition and isn't full of nematodes.

I'm not interested in big (over 20lb) cod either 6-15lb is the prime size for eating. The ones we caught the other day were stuffed full of brittle starfish. I prefer haddock to cod but I've only ever caught one down this way in the last 10 years. I needed to replenish the freezers and would rather have been fishing for flatties or bream but the turbot and brill are hard to find at the moment

Good old Morrisons