As we spread the word about the amazing foods that we will offer at The Meat Market, I am reminded that many people don’t have a direct experience in their past of shopping at a butcher shop, or of the assistance that a butcher can offer them in terms of meal planning, cooking instruction, and even shopping within a budget. For these people, the advantages of such an amenity are mysterious, and they may even have arguments against the necessity of such a shop in the era of the supermarket. I will use the next few postings to attempt to explain the whys and offer another perspective against the why nots.

Ten Promises

1.  PROVENANCE: We will know exactly where our meat comes from and be proud to tell you all about the farm, the animals raised, and the farmers who raise them.

2. AGING: We will know how long the meat has been hung, and be happy to hang it longer for you if you ask.

3. COUNSEL: We will advise you on the right cuts for particular dishes, and give you as much assistance as you desire in the preparation of those dishes. We will help you select cuts and offer cooking instruction to match any budget.

4. TASTE: We will encourage sampling and prepare a small taste of the meat you are purchasing so you can taste what you are bringing home.

5. SOURCING: We will order special things for you, and do custom preparations with some notice, so that you can create the dishes you long for.

6. SERVICE: We will prepare the cuts of meat to your specifications, and grind meat to order.

7. PACKAGING: We will not pre-pack our meat, and advise you how to store it once you get it home.

8.  ARTISANAL: We will make a variety of our own fresh sausage and cured meats. We will have a brine tub, and a smoker.

9. CULINARY: We will make a variety of stocks, stews, and demi glace, as well as ready to cook meals such as pot-pies and soups for when you are too busy to cook.

10. HOSPITALITY: We will create a friendly, clean, and welcoming environment with happy professionals ready to assist you.

(the list is modified from the very helpful list in The River Cottage’s Meat Book, by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)

Shopping for food should be a wonderful experience. The Meat Market will be a meeting place, a place of discussion, of wonderful aromas, and of tasting. We seek to reconnect people to their food through flavor, texture, and sense of place that eating perfectly raised, properly aged, and expertly cut meat makes possible.

getting the smoker ready

Jeremy stoked the fire with cherry from our woods. The weather was very hospitable, a pale blue sky looked benevolently from above as he put the Narragansett turkey in his very home-made smoker at about 1PM, and continued to allow it to smoke until it reached an internal temperature of 160 degrees. When he brought the bird in, the kitchen filled with the rich smokey aroma as we admired its mahogany skin.

My baguettes will be sliced as the base for the turkey meat, and smeared with fresh mayonnaise, and topped with cranberry relish with bosc pears, raisins, a little jalepeno pepper and lime juice.

pork sausage with fennel and peppers, served with just-baked Rye and mustard.

The documentary project attempts to answer questions regarding sustainability as we humans increase our consciousness about how our food animals are raised: how do we balance the ethical and health implications that arise when we try to grow large amounts of cheap protein, and what is the actual cost of the practices that have evolved to meet that demand ? We believe that the answer comes with a compromise: if we eat less volume but better quality protein we will gain tastier more satisfying meats, improved health, and get to support the earth’s environment and the rural communities from which our food is produced.

We hope to see you tonight so we can share these wonderful tastes, and get you ready for the feast on Thursday!
Happy Thanksgiving!

I have been making sausages for years, starting at La Bruschetta in West Stockbridge in the 1990s. At that time customers were looking for novelties, which led to a recipe for seafood sausage with spinach and carrots in it: I served this in a course at the James Beard House in 1997. During the years of Stellar Pasta (1999-2005) I worked with Barbara Delmolino (affectionately called Mrs. D) and Dominic Polumbo (Moon in the Pond Farm) to preserve Mrs. D.’s family recipe, and once a year turned the pasta shop into a sausage workshop.  In 2006 I worked for Stafford Premium Meats, a slaughter house owned and operated by New England Heritage Breeds Conservancy and funded by Cabbage Hill.  I worked on research and development of recipes using pasture raised meats: bresaola, beef jerky, bacon, hot dogs, hams, and many types of fresh and cured sausages. While in Italy (2004 and 2006) as a dellegate of Terra Madre (Slow Food’s biannual meeting)  and visiting sausage shops, I refined my knowledge of the art. The most important thing I discovered was that you don’t need fancy or expensive equipment to make great sausage.

Here I am making Hot Italian Sausage for our launch party (using a recipe I gleaned from Arnaldo Giovasi in North Adams.) The meat grinder is a Kreft #12, capable of processing 20LBS per hour.

Our shop will produce 1000 pounds of sausage per week, both for sale fresh, and for cured products. We will use a Hobart #20 grinder with 150 pounds per hour capacity to do the job. All the sausages will be hand stuffed.