My friend and butcher Josh Applestone had the opportunity to appear on the Martha Stewart Show. The show's theme was butchery and Josh and Martha cut up a half hog. http://www.marthastewart.com/article/how-to-butcher-a-pig

It was interesting to see how casual Martha was with this process but understanding her background as a kid hanging around a butcher shop, it was no problem for her. Today we just don't find kids that grow up around the craft of cutting meat. As children grow into adulthood they simply haven't experienced meat cutting or even shopping for meat from a real butcher. Maybe some people, with parents that hunted or who grew up on a farm setting, have witnessed some butchery, but with the demise of the local butcher, meat has become a distant thing of mystery. Many don't wish to know where their meat comes from or how it is processed. They want it quick, simple and easy to cook. But another type of consumer may want to know how their meat was raised and processed. In days gone by there were numerous local butchers that selected meats from large markets or from farms. Some shops were focused on quality while others on price, depending on the clientele. The butcher could answer some questions about where the meat came from, local or not. They were still in touch with the farm to table trail. Today we find the supermarkets purchasing through large volume jobbers who buy from the processors on a huge scale. The butcher in a supermarket will only know the brand name of the product and that may give a regional clue as to where the meat was raised or how but not as specific as the old style market butchers.

Now we find some individuals wanting to know more about butchery. So where can they go? To the local butcher shop? Not too likely. There are some demonstrations of butchery available at culinary schools. The CIA which I am partial to, of course, offers a basic meat class which I teach a few times a year. Josh and Jessica Applestone are offering some classes now through their shop at Fleishers in Kingston NY http://www.fleishers.com/, there are some locations on the west coast that offer classes now such as Avendano's in SanFrancisco. http://www.avedanos.com/classes.html I attended a class in NJ hosted by the Mangalitsa farm Mosefund in Northern New Jersey. It was taught by an Austrian butcher who showed some alternative cutting techniques. http://mosefund.com/ A quick search on the internet revealed a bunch of classes all over the place, often offered by small shops or restaurants. Some focus on curing and sausage making more than butchery and others focus on game fabrication. I have viewed a lot of clips on Youtube, some good, some very poor, be selective.

Often people claim the art of butchery is lost but today I find a lot of new interest and willingness to explore new techniques. So get out there and learn, like Martha!

Bookbinder Makes Pastrami

My teaching assistant, Steven Bookbinder, decided to make some pastrami a few weeks ago. The process is a simple one but it requires patience and a feel for slow cooking. A good quality pastrami starts with a quality cut. My father often makes it from the plate section but it tends to be very fatty. Most places, such as Katz's Deli in NYC or Schwartz's Smoked Meats in Montreal, use the brisket. At the CIA we got in a case of Prime grade briskets so Steven was in luck!

I had confidence that Steven would make a quality product but I was pleasantly surprised when it was finished. It was one of the best pastrami I've tasted. So what went right? Well first, the Prime brisket was a great start, then a quality recipe supplied by Chef Dave Kamen was valuable. The recipe was varied slightly by Steven to test out a couple things. One was that he did not trim the brisket much, another was the fact that Steven let the briskets dry out for a day after the brining. The spice mix was applied during this time which really got the seasoning deep into the meat. Another variation was the smoking time. The brisket was cold smoked overnight like bacon rather than a hot smoke. Then the last variation was that he steamed it in an intense pressure steamer for about 30 min, until the brisket was super tender! This was no quick process and the key to all of it was patience and allowing for flavors to develop correctly.

Upon finishing it we got a loaf of fresh rye bread from our bakeshop and some Gulden's Spicy Brown mustard. I ate two large sandwiches before I realized that I was ready to explode! As you can see in the photos it was carnage in the meat room as we all enjoyed this treat.

Pastrami is not a fancy food but its hard to find a real one. Thanks to Steven for the treat!

Here's the basic recipe for 2 large briskets....

Ingredients:

Brine:

Water 3 gal.

Salt 2 lbs

Dextrose 10 oz.

TCM 7 oz. ( I've reduced it to 5 oz. before)

Garlic cloves 6 smashed

Pickling Spice 2 Tbsp.

Prime beef Briskets 2 pc.

Spice Rub:

Coriander( cracked) 4 oz.

Black Pepper ( coarse cracked) 4 oz.

Mix the brine making sure all solids are dissolved. Steven used a large, clean plastic bucket. You can pump the brisket with a few oz of brine and then place the briskets in the brine for about a week under refrigeration until thoroughly cured.

Rinse off the brisket and rub the spice mix all over the outside, deep into the fat and meat. Let stand on a rack for about two days, allowing to dry.

Cold smoke slowly for about 8 hrs, until golden brown. Cook in steamer for about 30 min until fork tender and gelatinous.

Austrian Butchery Techniques

My grandparents on my father's side were immigrants from Austria and growing up I experienced a lot of Austrian dialect and customs. Part of that was the foods my father's family would create for our large celebrations and picnics. My grandfather was a stone mason and was trained in the classic European tradition of apprentice / master. Besides his skilled craft he and my grandmother were also a part time farmers, as were many people in the days before the World War II. My grandparents always had a huge garden, some chickens, grapes etc. Farming was part of their existence. My grandfather also had a smokehouse in the back yard. He could fit about twenty slabs of bacon in it if he wanted. He would cure his own sausages and bacon and let them hang out in the smoker for weeks, weather permitting.

My father decided butchery was his craft and he opened a store in the mid-nineteen fifties. His customers were from many backgrounds but mostly German/Americans. It was a classic butcher shop with whole primal cuts being carried in the front door and sawdust on the floor. The store was filled with specialty sausages, smoked products, cheeses, specialty imports. It was a family business and we all took a lot of pride in it. My father was an innovator of sorts. His was the first market to sell Brie cheese in our area in the mid 60s. He started making pate' and smoked goose liverwurst. Some of our products were created for our German customers but my father would sometimes give it a little twist. His Austrian roots would show through. Austria and Germany, though they share a common language and many cultural similarities, will differ on some foods including meats. The Austrians are more influenced by their other neighbors such as Hungary to the east and Italian Tyrol to the south. These differences result in cuts of meat that are somewhat unique to their area.

Over the winter I had the fortunate experience to be invited to a seminar presented by Magalitsa hog producers, Woolypigs and Mosefund Farm. The hosts of the event Micheal Clampffer, Heath Putnam and Tom Canaday invited the president of the Mangalitsa Pig Breeders Union, Christoph Wiesner to do a demonstration on Austrian style pork cutting. Mangalitsa is a deliciously fatted specialty breed that is now available in the US thanks to Heath and Woolypigs. ( I have other articles on this as well, look under pork) This was a two day seminar of which I could only attend the second day so I missed the slaughter and sausage making section but I got to observe the cutting of the carcass. It was interesting to see the differences to the American style and even the German style of c utting. The Austrians will cut without cutting through the middle of muscles like we do here. Heath has been kind enough to share Christoph's cutting diagrams with us so I've linked them. http://woolypigs.com/mangalitza_cutting2010.pdf It was great talking with Christoph. He reminded me of some of the foods my Grandfather would make and how his dialect and terms used to describe pork were somehow familiar. This you tube has Christoph describing some of his bacon styles. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oslQKtzG3M Someday I hope to visit Christoph in Austria and have a few slices of homemade Mangalitsa Speck. Wunderbar!

Fall for Spring Lamb

As spring creeps into the air and the snow banks turn the ugly brown and the first shoots of green pop through the soil we start to think about the traditional foods of the season. One meat that comes to mind is lamb. Lamb has traditionally been a meat used to celebrate religious and seasonal happenings. Roast leg of lamb is often the choice for many Easter feasts. It also can be part of the Passover dinner. It can symbolize the "re-birth" of the earth and the passing of the winter season. So why lamb and what is "spring" lamb? In the days of early sheep farming in northern temperate climates lamb were often born in the spring which would make it very young to eat at this time of year. The term spring lamb can mean the lamb that was born in spring and raised throughout the summer into early fall. So spring lamb really wouldn't be ready until mid-July into September. It would be actaully the best lamb in that it would have eaten first mother's milk and then the best pasture throughout the summer months. A Spring lamb traditionally would be around 6 months old, weigh about 30 -40 lbs and would not have reached its full size yet. Today most lamb produced are just over six months but are weighing about 70lbs. This is due to larger breeds being grown and feeding methods. In reality almost all the large commercial lamb we buy is "spring" lamb and the calendar is no longer a factor as much when considering lamb quality. Niche market, grass-fed product can still be effected by season and end of summer product is typically the best.

So why lamb in spring? Originally the "Spring" lamb was meat from the English Dorsett breed that would give birth in the fall, feed its offspring on milk throughout the winter and then on the first early grass of spring. http://www.edibleportland.com/2008/03/edible_seasonal_6.html so spring lamb is really fall lamb. Lamb imported from New Zealand, Australia and Argentina , which have opposite growing seasons are often sold as "spring" lamb and their breeds tend to be a little smaller which adds to the size issue.

Lamb remains a favorite this time of year with many menus serving a roast. This will often increase the wholesale price for the legs and racks, leaving the extra shoulders to be sold off at a more reasonable price. These can be boned and roasted as well with a little more skill. I like to stuff them and roast it slow for about 2.5 hours.

Aging 3

At the CIA I have been experimenting with aging meat for a while now. Over the years many classes have sampled the flavor of aged beef, lamb and even pork. We have compared dry to wet aging methods and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of both during our lectures. Most often we dry age a bone in 2x3 beef striploin for about 3-4 weeks and cut off all of the exposed area, conduct a yield test and then sample a few slices of steaks simply cooked in a hot black skillet. We compare this to a three week wet aged 0x1 boneless striploin cooked the same way. These are both non-program standard choice, not expensive prime or certified beef, but its not tenderness we are testing so much as the depth of flavor. Consistently the dry aged has more depth of flavor but a severe yield loss. I always try to encourage my students to think of how each would apply in the restaurant setting. A dry aged would be great for a stand alone steak where the flavor of the meat is the highlight. Wet aged might be more appropriate for a steak that is served with a rich sauce or spicy rub where the taste of the steak is lost to the seasoning.

The longest dry aged product other than cured stuff, was a leg of lamb that was aged for about two months. I thought for sure it would be spoiled but to my surprise it survived and presented a rich flavor and ultra tender texture. We also did a six week striploin over the summer break which was right on the edge of palatable. Some students didn't like it while others thought it was divine. We had some products that were wet aged too long and had a very funky "feta" cheese smell. We didn't sample those. Beef reaches maximum tenderness at 21 - 28 days after slaughter if held at normal walk-in temperatures so there is really no reason to wet age beyond that amount of time.

Many students and associates ask me if they can age in their small fridge at home. We age at the college in a large walkin with great fan circulation and good humidity control but a small fridge is a different situation. I often suggest using an extra fridge and sticking a small computer fan in it to circulate properly. Also place a small pan of water in there to keep up the humidity.

A while back we received a sample of a product named DryBag. I had read about this product on Chris Raines Penn State blog and I called DryBag. They generously offered a few for us to try. The concept is to be able to dry age beef without having to isolate the cuts in a seperate fridge. It is a water permeable bag the bonds to the meat when vacuum packaged. It dries out just like regular dry aging but without the worry of crosscontamination or air flow. It does require a quality vacuum machine and may not work with an inexpensive foodsaver, but a higher end home vacuum system will work. http://www.drybagsteak.com/

We tested all three methods to see how this technology holds up. We took one very fresh striploin that had never been in a bag, cut it into thirds and aged it three ways. So what was the result? We conducted a basic yield test, not a cut test but a simple test to see how much the meat shrank over about three and a half weeks. The wet aged lost no yield at all, the regular exposed dry aged lost about 20% and the DryBag portion also lost an almost identical amount, 20%. So we concluded it was truly water vapor permeable. The wet aged was the usual dull off red of in bag meat that soon bloomed once the air hit it. The regular dry aged had developed some exterior mold and had its usual distinct salami-esque smell. The DryBag was discolored but not to the point of the regular dry aged. It had a slight odor but not drastic. We tasted it all and the three were all different. The regular and the wet aged followed their predictable flavor profiles and the DryBag steak came in about in the middle. It definately gained some Umami flavor but not as much as the traditional dry aged. I wanted to share the tasting with another chef so I sent the three to Certified Master Chef Brad Barnes and asked for his honest opinion. I sent him trimmed 8 oz. steaks that all looked pretty much the same. Brad has judged numerous chef competitions and has a quality palate so here are his notes:

Wet;
Fragrance, none
Color, same
Flavor, mild
Normal texture

Dry Bag;
Fragrance, light
Color, same
Flavor, Mild, pleasant nutty hint
Moderately tender

Dry;
Fragrance full, pleasant
Color, same
Flavor, moderate strength, typical aged flavor
Tender

Peidmontese

No time for a long article right now but heres a beef breed to hold you over. http://www.jakobsbowl.com/jakobs_bowl/2010/02/heritage-hall-of-fame-piedmontese-beef-cattle.html
This is some of the best beef in the world. Different idea than the ultra-fat Wagyu. It is known as the "original" crossbreed.

Beef and Beer!

I knew that title would grab your attention. A lot of beer is sold through some very heavy marketing as I'm sure we will see during the Superbowl. The big players in the US are Anheuser- Busch, Miller Brewing and Coors. Samuel Adams takes a chunk of the upscale market and then there are lots and lots of midsized, small and micro- brewers. There is also a large selection of foreign beer companies that also know how to market. The big companies have national distribution and lots of advertising power, midsized companies may have national distribution but not nearly the advertising bucks. The small ones distribute regionally or even within one city and then you have the brew pubs which only sell to their customers directly. Some large companies are now international super giants like the InBev corporation that bought Anheuser- Busch back in 2008. This Belgian-Brazilian company now owns over 200 brands including such polar opposites as Rolling Rock and Spaten Brau. They own brands produced all over Europe, Canada, US, South America, China and Russia. They own Becks and St Pauli Girl, two German icons. For each brand they own they produce numerous types of beer, for example Bud lager, Bud Light, Bud American Ale, Busch, Michelob are all Anheuser Busch brands.

So what does this have to do with Beef? Well the beef industry has some similarities. You have the larger beef processors in the US such as IBP, Excel, Swift, National, and Smithfield beef. Then there are some mid-sized companies such as Creekstone Farms, Greater Omaha Beef and Aurora Angus Beef which are focused on more specialty meats. You have the really small local type meat lockers and then the local farmers who distribute directly. Just as in the beer industry you have giant multinational corporations such as the Brazilian JBS S.A. that own multiple brands that appear to compete with each other. Swift, National and Smithfield are all owned by JBS today and Tyson, the poultry giant , owns IBP's beef production. As with beer, national distribution and advertising are dramatically increased with size. Also each company has multiple brand names under its umbrella. Tyson sells regular IBP brand but then also features Star Ranch Angus, Chairmen's Reserve, Open Prairie Natural Angus branded products. The same for National Beef with ten brands including Vintage Natural, Black Canyon Angus, Certified Hereford and Naturewell Beef. Excel Beef is owned by the food giant Cargill and has Sterling Silver Beef as a brand name.

Another aspect of the beef industry is name brand ultra- quality wagyu or naturally raised beef. This small, very expensive market is like the fine India Pale Ales that I buy, with small label companies craft brewing the beer. Some of these expensive beef items have higher than Prime marbling scores and typically are hitting some high scores on the Japanese rating system. But even these are not exactly what they seem. Take Snake River Farms, a well known wagyu brand; they are actually a brand name of Agri Beef Co. which also owns Double R Ranch Beef, St. Helens Beef and Rancho El Oro Beef. They are a high quality cattle grower and focus on feed, genetics and humane practices but they are not one small ranch or farm. Another is Strube Ranch in Texas. The other day I was checking the label on a box of Strube Wagyu beef and it stated "Elkhorn Valley Packing Co.", Kansas. I am still waiting on a response from Elkhorn which is a small, high quality processor that has its own line of Angus. What I think is happening is Strube is contracting with Elkhorn to process and distribute their Wagyu beef. Niman Ranch is now owned by Chicago Natural Food Holdings which took over two years ago.

Smaller processors are selling ungraded beef either regionally or over the internet. These very small operations might not really have any distribution other than a delivery truck or the UPS man. They typically will sell heritage breed, grass fed or naturally raised without hormones or some other feature that will attract the customer. Even smaller, direct farm distribution is available at many farmers markets all over the US today. Many of these operators are seasonal and by mid-winter meats are typically no longer available in cold weather states.

So what is the point of all of this? I just thought it was an interesting comparison between two of my staples. I guess comparisons could be made for many other products and this wasn't an opinion on quality. Many of these products are very high quality but I find that consumers often have a perception of where their beer and beef are coming from and who controls the company. This week I sampled a steak from Rykowski's Farm and enjoyed a glass of Hurricane Kitty IPA, both produced within 6 miles from my house, I guess next week I'll try some Australian Wagyu and a Czech Pilsner.