“You’re kidding me,” I said to the butcher.

He wasn’t.

See, the thing is, I’d a mind for a bit of lamb. Maybe it was simply association – Spring is here and we’re coming up to Easter and all - but I was thinking of getting in a leg of lamb and maybe some stewing pieces and a few lamb shanks for the freezer.

Once I got to the counter, it emerged that the relatively modest-sized leg of lamb I’d requested would set me back more than €44.

My mouth shaped into a silent ‘O’.

“You think that’s bad,” the butcher said dolefully.

“The man before you asked me for the very same thing and he walked away without it too.

“The thing is, next week the same weight will likely cost you €52.”

“What?” I said disbelievingly.

“Lamb’s gone hideous expensive,” he said. “I can’t sell it.”

Right so. I decided I’d give the leg of lamb a skip and just make a lovely succulent lamb curry from scratch. As well as a few shanks for the slow cooker.

I pointed to a smallish container of stewing lamb pieces inside the glass. I estimated that it was about a pound and a half, give or take.

“How much?” I said.

Nearly €16.

I gaped at him.

“I know,” he said. “Sure, isn’t that what I’m telling you?”

“Well, what about a few lamb shanks then?” I asked.

Surely be to God a few lamb shanks wouldn’t sink the bloody boat.

He shook his head. “I don’t have any.”

I stared. He’d never let me down on lamb shanks before in all the time I’ve been going to him, and that’s a bit of time.

“I’ll be honest with........

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