A conversation in the Butchers

I had an interesting conversation in the Butchers today.  A couple of days ago I bought some sausages and we cooked them the other night.  Hardly any fat ran out of them at all (and I nearly cremated them because of this!).  So today I asked how much fat was typically in an australian sausage.  The butcher said they had to be 85% lean meat, with 9% cereal and the rest made up with water, and a tiny amount of fat.  No wonder they did not run fat.  His proportions were 10k lean meat, 1kg cereal powder, 2 litres water, and some fat.  And the local authority come round and test the sausages for constituent parts.  I said in the UK sausages were usually nearly white because they are mostly fat, unless you pay a lot for them.  Also he said the low quality mince was 85% lean, and high quality mince would be 97% lean.  Once again lower fat than in the UK.   I'm sure I'm going to quiz him more about the meat and find out more meat details on subsequent trips. 

Jim and I have noticed that there are fewer overweight people in Perth, than in either the UK or USA.  This might be because the food is higher quality/lower fat, or possibly because food outlets control portion size.  In the USA, Jim experienced much bigger portions, and nearly always free refills on drinks (tea, coffee, coke).  Here, portions are adequate, but smaller with no free refills.  And this seems to reduce the incidence of obesity, and the visibility of sheer greed.  Although there are adverts on the television about the increase in diabetes in the Australian community, we do not notice people who look obese and unwell.  In fact, Jim has commented on how many sports pitches there are, and how often they appear to be in continuous use.  There are 2 football pitches plus hockey and rugby pitches near us.  On Sundays, Jim often goes out on the bike and spends some time watching the games.  The football pitch is in use all day long, with youngsters in the morning and older boys playing in more senior leagues as the afternoon wears on.  In England people are interested in football but mostly watch it.  Here a lot more people seem to follow football and actually play it.

This morning when Jim and I were walking to the shops, we walked along the river front, when we heard the blow of a dolphin.  Looking closely we could see two fins arching through the water, with the familiar sound of the dolphin breathing.   The pair went along the riverside, then headed out to sea. 

Black swans on Canning River outside our flat