Oxtail woes

Jamaicans love oxtail, whether they live on the island or overseas. And the fact that this delicacy consists of mostly bones and fat has never been a deterrent for those who worship this mouth-watering meat for Sunday dinner, served with rice and peas.

But the devotion that Jamaicans overseas have cherished for oxtail came to a screeching halt last year when in some parts of the United States, the price jumped dramatically from $8.99 per pound to a whopping $18.99.

There are several reasons being given for the price rise, one being greed on the part of vendors, presuming that eager Jamaican shoppers would pay any price. Others suggested trade issues with Canadian cattle farmers, where most of the tails come from, to the fact that China was gobbling up a large quantity of American and Canadian beef products at premium prices, thereby reducing domestic availability and driving up prices. Restaurants escalated their menu prices too, with an oxtail meal typically costing from $24 to $50. And if the meal is enjoyed at a fine dining restaurant in New York City, also add 20 per cent for gratuity and 8.25 per cent for tax!

But Jamaicans in the United States have been putting up resistance to the high oxtail prices, and many consumers are consuming less of their favourite dish.

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“Mi use to eat oxtail one or two time a week when it was $12,” Junior Richards, a Jamaican in Brooklyn, lamented. “But now it gone sky-high, so for me and my girl that would be $50 for two lunch, so mi jus' easy wid a jerk chicken – sometimes I pay extra to get some oxtail gravy pon mi chicken.”

Janet Sherwood, a Jamaican in New Jersey, also told The Gleaner that her frequency for eating oxtail had declined. “Oxtail money can pay cell phone and light bill, so now I only have it on my birthday and for Christmas dinner,” she said.

The reluctance to spend top dollar for the tails appears to have paid off as, in most instances, prices have dropped. At Tropical Sun, a West Indian supermarket in East Orange, NJ, that had triggered a Gleaner oxtail story last September, prices have dropped from $18.99, where it held steady for months, to $13.99, a drop of over 26 per cent Shop Rite, a chain supermarket across New Jersey, now carries both oxtail and veal tail for $11.99 per pound. At Bravo's Supermarket in Orange, the price is down to $10.99 per pound, from $13, and the recently opened Main Street Meat Market in Orange offers oxtail for $10 per pound. Jamaicans in South Florida generally pay about the same prices as those in the Northeast.

“I've always loved my oxtail with broad beans and spinners from Jamaica days, and I can get nice, trimmed cuts at Publix supermarket here in Broward,” Mrs Jean Lee, a South Florida resident, told the Gleaner. A check with a Publix supermarket in Pembroke Pines, Florida, showed the price at $11.99 per pound was similar to New York and New Jersey prices.

While there is a price decrease in most supermarkets and other retail outlets for the fresh meat, The Gleaner has yet to find a single restaurant with a decrease in meal prices. All restaurants that were looked at in the New York tri-state region were still maintaining their high prices for meals. The only difference noted was that some restaurants were only offering one size for oxtail, instead of the usual small, medium and large options. And the oxtail gravy is now sold with white rice or rice and peas for $6 to $8 at some takeout restaurants. A diner outside a restaurant in Queens, NY, was asked if he thought restaurants would eventually lower the price on their oxtail meals.

“That will never happen,” he chuckled loudly.

Jamaica is not immune from the oxtail dilemma. “I love oxtail, but I have not bought it in over 20 years as I refuse to spend my hard-earned cash on bones and fat,” Barbara Ellington, a former food and lifestyle editor at The Gleaner, whispered. “I saw six pieces in a package last week in Mandeville for over J$2,500 and I cut my eye at it. I'd rather spend that money buying lobster, salmon or lamb chops,” she stated.

Grass-fed, pasture-raised oxtail, like the strikingly similar kangaroo tail, can cost as much as US$32 per pound in the United States.

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