COCHON 555 NYC 2011

Back in December my friend Michael Sullivan, the butcher from The Inn at Blackberry Farm, asked if I could get some volunteer students to help at the opening of this year's Cochon 555 on Jan 23rd 2011. Cochon 555 is a ten city tour competition and it's purpose is to bring awareness to heritage breed pigs and small market farmers. It features five outstanding chefs, five breed of pig and five quality vintners all combining for a great time. At each tour location a winner is selected by a panel of judges and they will later compete at the final in Aspen to see who is the king or queen of pork! http://www.cochon555.com/menu/mission/ The founder of Cochon 555, Brady Lowe, then asked if I would like to conduct a demo and be one of 20 judges for the event. Hard to resist!

The event was amazing. The five chefs were given their hogs about a week or so ahead and were asked to prepare a nose to tail menu. The rules are pretty basic, prepare as many dishes that utilize the whole pig and present it with an explanation. The chefs presented at the judges table, giving a description of each item. The NYC chefs included Bill Telepan from Telepan Restaurant, Sean Rembold from Marlow and Sons, George Mendes from Aldea Restaurant, Peter Hoffman from Savoy, and the winner of this round Brad Farmerie from Public Restaurant. All presented amazing dishes and showcased their creative abilities with numerous braises, terrines, soups, crisps, pastries, pork infused everything!

Part of the mission of Cochon 555 is to showcase heritage breeds of swine and the assortment of pigs represented didn't disappoint. The pork used were all from unique niche market growers using their own particular feeding styles. There was Berkshire from Raven and Boar which was raised similar to pigs used for Parma ham, feeding them whey from cheesemaking. The Mangalitsa pig came from Mosefund Farm which Michael Clampfer feeds a diet partially of barley and acorns. There was also a Rede Wattle from Heritage Foods USA, an Old Spot pig from Flying Pig Farm and a Duroc cross from Fleischer's of Kingston. There was also a couple of butchery demos, one by yours truly featured a milk fed "porcelet de lait" mid sized pig from St. Canut Farm in Quebec which was provided by D'Artagnan distributors. The other was a competition demo between two Lowell Carson and Jose Manuel Alarcon featured a large Berkshire raised by Mark Newman of Newman Farm.

Twenty two students from the Culinary Institute of America joined the action as volunteers. The meatroom MIT Spencer Lee helped organize it and we all met at the location, The Lighthouse at Chelsea Pier. The students did a great job helping with the chefs in the kitchen, preparing appetizers, serving and generally were there when hands were needed. In return they got a chance to mingle and network with the chefs, farmers, winemakers and all of the guests.

Besides the heritage pork dishes there was a fine display of cheese presented by Murray's Cheese and wonderful charcuterie fromDebragga and Spitler. There was also some Black River Caviar Oesetra from Uraguay and Island Creek Oysters but I somehow managed to miss that tasting.

The wineries were also well representedby Copain Wine Cellars, Alysian winery, Elk Cove Vineyards, Failla Wines and Scholium Project. I enjoyed the Savignon Blanc from Scholium Project. It was slightly cloudy with super strong apricot tones that made you think it was going to be overpowering but it was very pleasant and went very well with the rich pork.

On a final note Bobby Hellen of Resto brought in a roast half hog that was carved and served on a waffle that was sooo delicious. My own demo pig, the porcelet was boned and rolled with porcetta spices and roasted. Its skin was a perfect wafer thin crisp.

Cochon555 moves on to Boston next weekend and then on from there. Check out their site. www.cochon555.com

Popular Cuts and Percentages

I recently heard someone talk about the wonderful flavor of the oyster steak. The oyster, which sits on the outside of the aitch bone on the beef carcass weighs only about 6 -8 ounces. On a 800 pound carcass this is a tiny percentage to say the least. Back in 1998 a project funded by the Beef Checkoff program and conducted by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, http://bovine.unl.edu/ was completed . The purpose was to analyze the entire beef carcass according to the isolated individual muscle as opposed to larger multi muscled cuts that chefs are familiar with commercially. Each individual muscle was subjected to the Warner Bratzler test which detects tenderness. The discoveries were an awakening for the beef industry. Instead of cross cutting through each large section of the carcass, muscles were isolated and sold as "new" cuts. Old world butchers and various cultures around the world have been doing this for years. Often a European chef will ask for a cut that is not the same here in the US. These cuts are smaller and more difficult to isolate than the typical cutting style. An example would be the "flat iron" steak which was isolated from the shoulder clod. The upside of this research is a higher profit margin from the entire carcass. The downside is the problem when one of these small cuts gains in popularity to the point where the cost becomes prohibitive. If a restaurant decides to put a small isolated cut on the menu, such as the Teres Major or Petite Tender, which weighs about a pound, and it becomes a popular item, the price may shoot up. If the menu states "petite tender" then the restaurant cannot substitute with another cut that might work instead.

Middle meat cuts such as the tenderloin, strip loin and rib eye have always been more expensive because of their tenderness, flavor and also shape, that is conducive for portion cutting. A completely cleaned and denuded tenderloin only weighs about 4 pounds so in a 800 pound carcass there is only 8 pounds of tenderloin medallions. Wow! The larger tougher cuts from the round and chuck take up a much larger percentage of the carcass. Recently I have encountered the rib eye divided into its main eye muscle and its tender cap piece, reducing its size and raising its price. I'm not suggesting these are bad ideas. These are very tender cuts and wonderful for flavor and plate presentation but the chef must realize the cost and reduce the portion size. A 6-8 oz portion should suffice on these cleaned isolated cuts.

How does this relate to other meats? Another cut that is very popular but is a low percentage of the whole is the veal hind shank. There are only 6-8 quality bone-in portions of veal hind shank osso buco available in a 400 lb veal carcass. Veal osso buco maintains its popularity and cannot be substituted with another cut so the price is high, over $8.00 per lb. Another example is the boneless eye muscle of the lamb loin. It weighs only a little over a pound from a 70 pound carcass.

As a chef decides what meat to put on the menu they are often confronted with the many options available today. A menu that is locked into a specific cut makes it very difficult to buy a larger cut and be able to utilize all of the other leftover parts. Its even harder to purchase a full carcass as many local farmers and small processors like to sell. How can a chef put a single item such as loin medallions on the menu when it is such a small portion of the whole carcass? It is the dilemma many chefs encounter when considering local meats. A menu designed with larger cuts or full carcasses in mind requires the overlapping of uses and maybe stockpiling some cuts in the freezer. Its a different mindset.

A chef may also often wonder why a specific cut is expensive. Prices of individual cuts are all based on the full carcass. If a certain small cut is unnoticed then its prices remains low. A chef should be flexible with menu items to realize the most profit. Or, at the very least, keep up with price fluctuations to adjust the menu prices.

Hog Start to Finished!

My Nephew, Austin Schneller raised 4 hogs for this year. They were born in spring and reached a little over 6 months. He fed them a combination of oats, alfalfa hay, corn, table scraps, garden scraps, pumpkins, apples, lots of acorns and a few Dunkin Munchkin treats. They lived in a nice large pen about twenty by forty feet on a rocky ledge with plenty of muddy places to wallow and a nice hay strewn shed to hang out in when it was hot or rainy. Oak and hickory trees cover the plot and drop their nuts right over the hogs. This year there was a phenomenal acorn crop. I have a few large oaks in my own yard and raked up a few 5 gallon buckets for them. Pigs love acorns, especially those from white oaks. They also like hickory nuts and can crunch them up without trouble. They escaped their pen a couple times and foraged the local woods for a few days ( hence the Munchkins to lure them back.)

All in all it cost Austin just over $2,000 to raise them. Each hog ended weighing about 300 lbs dressed carcass, with two slightly smaller, so they ended up costing a fair amount. But cost was only part of it, Austin was going for ultimate quality. Austin contracted with a few people who bought them for a price they all previously agreed upon.

These pigs didn't need an antibiotic or any other pharmaceuticals other than worming, because they started out healthy and lived an active robust life. All foraging pigs need to wormed a couple times because they can pick up parasites from the ground they root in. These were last wormed back in August.

The hogs were Hampshire Landrace crossbreeds from a quality herd. They were mostly black with a large white stripe around their middles. They were extremely marbled and had a cover fat of well over an inch on the loin. The bellies were large and almost two inches thick. The meat color was a deeper red than most pork. The fat melted in my hands and was creamy smooth. The flavor was rich and full...porky!

Last Saturday, Nov 20th, we did the slaughter. My father Robert, my brother Rick, nephews Quinn and Dean along with a few other strong armed friends were up to the task. We had a core group that knew the process. Harvesting hogs is a fair amount of work with each part of the process as important as the next. First they are stunned with a 22 caliber rifle; then bled. My nephew Dean was the "sticker", hitting the main blood vessel in the neck. I did the first one and he did the rest. Hogs need to be bled out correctly and soon after stunning to ensure there is no blood "splash" or broken capillaries in the lean muscle. Then we scalded the hogs, dipping in 150F water for a few minutes to loosen off all their hair. This requires some heavy lifting and shackling to be sure the hair is loosened. Then the scraping, which is done by all, at once, using bell shaped scrapers and knives. The hair was becoming thick due to the cold fall weather making this process difficult.

Once cleaned on the outside it was time for the evisceration. Removing the entrails of a pig is careful work. First the gambrels are opened along each foot and the heavy rope is hooked to the "spreader". Each foot is hooked up and then the hog is lifted using a pulley to a height where its nose is just about 3 inches from the ground. A sharp knife is required to cut the skin carefully but not pierce the intestines or other vitals. This work is a little rough for those who have never been around it. For me, I sort of set myself outside of the situation and just do it, similar to a surgeon. Just apply the skills learned and don't think about the gore etc. I had the opportunity to teach Austin's friend Jesse how it was done. Jesse had worked as a cook in the famous Fore Street Cafe in Portland Maine where whole hogs, already cleaned and eviscerated, were brought in from local farms from time to time to be cut and used. He had worked with cutting the meat etc but had never done the whole thing from live to finished carcass. We salvaged the liver, kidneys, heart and caul fat but we didn't feel like cleaning out the intestines. Then we loosened off the leaf lard so it would be easy to use when it hardened.

The next step was to split the carcass which requires a cut directly down the spine and no more than a 1/4 inch wide. A couple years ago we came across a new method of splitting, we used a thin long handled Japanese pull saw which slowly but very accurately cuts through the back bones.

Finally the two sides are lifted off the spreader and rope simultaneously, requiring teamwork and strength. We hung the sides in the barn and hoped for cold weather. Sunday it was cold, high around forty and low of twenty seven. Monday reached a high of over fifty but never over forty five in the barn. Austin set up fans to keep the air moving. We hung them until the Friday after Thanksgiving and by that time the fat had set up beautifully. This process of allowing the meat to hang is crucial. The carcass must stretch out and set up before it should be cut. This is one of the key lessons to Austin's quality pork. Let them chill and set up for a few days and the meat develops a very nice flavor. If the weather is right, I would hang the loin with the skin on for about three weeks for a very deep concentrated pork taste.

We cut the hogs a little out of the ordinary. Two of the hams were made into large steamships for Christmas dinners. The other hams were seamed and turned into roasts, with the top round well trimmed for cutlets. We cut the foreshanks into osso buco. The shoulders were boned out using seam butchery rather than the straight through the muscle techniques used by large commercial processors. We cut off the chine bones of the loin and then hand cut the pork chops; no band saw work here! The huge bellies and jowls were rubbed with the salt recipe for bacon and then were pressed together for later smoking. Some of the fatback was saved for cured lardon and most was cut and rendered to lard for frying. Some of the bones were roasted for a stock and later reduced to a sort of pork glace. Some of the fatty pieces were saved for making, fresh breakfast sausage, smoked liverwurst and country pates. My dad took the heads and will make homemade headcheese and scrapple. He also took the hearts, sliced them into thin strips and made a Hungarian soup with lots of paprika and sourcream.

While cutting the pigs we threw a few slices into the pan, CIA meat class style, just salt and pepper and a hot skillet. The taste was so satisfying!

The idea of raising a pig and then harvesting it is not all that fascinating. Its a lot of work and requires a fair amount of equipment and some valuable knowledge for it to go well. Many parts of the process could go wrong and ruin the whole plan. Austin is getting to the point where he is now growing a true artisan pork. A flavor so deep and rich accomplished partly by the breed but mostly by the feed style and the space allowed. The taste of place or terrior if I must use that word. His pigs taste of the place they were grown. All of the feeds came from farms nearby ( except the rare Dunkin Munchkin). They also taste so good because of the techniques used during the harvest and the aging after, and then the curing and spices used on the food itself. The garden fresh sage, the local hardwoods used for smoking, all playing a part in the taste. But there is something else about the pork we were tasting. It was about the age old traditions of families getting together during harvest times to put up food for the coming year. It was about the culmination of all that hard work finally paying off. Its about looking at what we eat and saying well there you go, I made that! Not just bought the ingredients and cooked it, but really made it from start to finish. Its about developing a product that not everyone is going to taste. I felt honored to have helped in this process and to taste such a treat. Congrats to Austin on a very successful hog harvest!

Cutting Boards...Polymer vs Maple

Years ago the local health department came through my kitchen and told me I should think about removing all of the wooden cutting boards that we had on our line. " Plastic is better, easier to clean" the inspector said. I always resisted for a few reasons. First, I was in busniess and we didn't see the need to replace anything that wasn't broken unless there was a monetary benefit. Second the wooden cutting boards were nicer on the knives. I find the plastic boards take the edge off faster, especially when doing a lot of chopping, such as mincing garlic or parsley. Third was simply aesthetics, the wooden boards looked warmer, more "homemade" so if we took a photo of a rustic dish with a wooden board it just looked better. So which is best?

Today I work on large plastic tables in the meatroom at the CIA. They are used by three seperate classes daily. There are thousands of little nicks and dings and a few larger saw cuts from the many classes that have used them over the past 5 0r 6 years, since they were last replaced. We wash them and sanitize them each night, then allow them to air dry in a cold room.

So which is better? First lets talk about what they actually are. Plastic cutting boards are made of polyethelene and can be made in a variety of thicknesses. Over time they get nicks and cuts in them which can harbor bacteria, making them difficult to sanitize. There are some that claim antibacterial surface but the effectiveness of this is questionable. Most carry a warning stating "This product does not protect against bacteria". Once the antibacterial board is cut into bacteria will also be found in it. Plastic boards can be planed and resurfaced if thick enough, getting rid of all the nicks. Cleaning plastic can be done in a dish machine if small enough to fit which sterilizes the surface. Another aspect of plastic boards is they can be colored to designate uses; yellow for poultry, green for vegis, white for meat etc. Super thin plastic cutting mats can be used for small portable cutting and these can also be washed in a machine. Plastic boards can be sanitized with harsh chemicals such as bleach and then rinsed thoroughly whereas wood will absorb the flavor of the chemical.

Wooden cutting boards are made of hardwoods that have a tight grain. Maple is most typical, hickory is possible also, teak and other tropical woods are found but very expensive. Oaks' grain is too wide enabling moisture to penetrate. Pine and other fir trees are way too soft and fragile. Bamboo is cut and layered to make a very hard board that resists cuts but can dull knives somewhat. Bamboo boards can be light and thin and very easy to clean. Wooden boards can be cleaned with abrasive scrubbers such as steel wool which actually take a tiny layer off, healing the board's cuts. Maple boards resist bacterial growth and are found to be safer than a over-used plastic board but wooden boards cannot be allowed to be continually moist or soaked in sinks. They can split and mold can form in the cracks. Wooden boards can be planed, also to resurface. They must be kept dry and may require an occassional conditioning with mineral oil. I have seen old school butcher shops pour salt on their boards every night and then wipe it off in the morning to kill any harmful bacteria. Small wooden cutting boards can be sanitized in a microwave. Wood is also a "green" renewable resource as opposed to plastic.

Another type of board is made from rubber. Two inch thick rubber boards are expensive but feature some of the best of both worlds. They can be sanatized like plastic but won't dull your knives as easily. Rubber is also renewable. They can warp but they also can be heated in an oven to be reshaped. Rubber boards "heal" like wood so the small cuts seal back up keeping it free of bacteria harboring nicks.

When chopping with the cleaver, plastic and rubber boards will be damaged. Normal wooden boards will chip and damage also but the maple "chopping" block is designed for it. The grain is set so the cleaver is chopping down into it as opposed to across.

Whatever board you choose its imperative that it is cleaned correctly and replaced when worn. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages and inital cost plays a part in the decision. I welcome any comments on this and ideas from you.

Butcher Skills for Restaurant Chefs

A meatcutter in a large packing plant can fabricate an enormous amount of meat in a single day. They have the advantage of the "assembly line" arrangement with all of modern techniques and equipment. For instance, the task of boning a leg of lamb and tying it into a roast is done over and over by a single person working off of a moving conveyor belt. The cutter doesn't need to carry anything or move from his or her spot. The its a simple 1-2-3 step proceedure, pull the leg off the conveyor belt, bone it out and throw it back on, and then the roast is formed and netted by someone else. On larger cuts, such as beef, the task may be aided by hydrolic pullers and tools specifically designed to reduce stressful labor and increase speed of fabrication. The result is a product that is cut accurately to industry specs that is standardized and available from purveyors with regularity. The same goes for portion cut items. Steaks and chops are cut on machines that can regulate thickness and weight and done in huge volume so the processor can pick out all of the like-sized portions for accuracy. You can buy a perfect 10 oz striploin steak over and over.

So why would a chef decide to do any fabrication in house? There is no way to match the speed of the large plants and they would need to pay someone to do it. But the restaurant chef that has some butchery skills has an advantage over those that don't. They can custom cut things that are outside the norm such as instead of simply boning the leg of lamb they can french off the end of the shank, remove all other bones, stuff the interior and then tie it to create a look that is unique. Meat cutting, especially on the small custom restaurant or meat market level can go in directions that a large processor can not possibly do. Other examples are chefs who dabble in curing meats. A ham, custom partially boned in the true prosciutto style, leaves the femur and shank intact but the aitch bone removed except for a little corner of it to protect the interior from mold. You can't buy this from a large processor. All sorts of little tricks and custom ideas can be done to maximize yields, create unique looks, convert tougher cuts to tender all by butchery skill.

Another situation invloves chefs that want to sell meat from a small local processor. Most small processors cut meat from local farms but cut for retail freezer orders. They focus on quick volume band saw work which may not be good for a restaurant. Today we find some chefs buying the entire primal cut and breaking it down themselves. This enables them to utilize all of the trim, bones and even fat to make a large variety of sauces and dishes that wouldn't occur if they purchased pre-cut items. This cutting requires a lot of skill and time. There is no assembly line. Meats need to be cut on a large table instead of off the hook. Meats are out in a warmer environment than in a meat plant so spoilage is an issue. Crosscontamination can occur if proper care isn't taken. But the end result can be a taste and texture that is as signature as a fine pastry or a great sauce. A restaurant that custom cuts their meat can use the fact on the menu or in advertising. Even an inexpensive bistro can offer an in-house ground burger that is made from whole muscle cuts rather than buying pre-ground beef that may have contamination.

I must admit that I am partial to chefs cutting some or all of their meat in-house, afterall I have trained a lot of them. I also realize in many situations such as very high volume hotels or casinos can't possibly do all their fabrications but there are often ways to save money or create new presentations by custom cutting.

Buying local:Right way, wrong way, NO way!

At the CIA we are buying some local meat for our St Andrews Restaurant. We have found that the Hudson Valley has a large variety of meats raised by farms within 60 miles of our location including, beef, lamb, pork, poultry and even some veal. We have been getting beef from two producers Meiller's in Pine Plains and Rykowskis in Rosendale NY. Both have quality beef breeds, Meiller's has some very nice Angus and Rykowski has Hereford. These livestock are on pasture and are supplemented with corn and fermented silage which fattens them up. Meillers has been reaching high choice marbling scores and Rykowskis are reaching at least select levels. We have aged the striploins and rib eyes from both with great success. With both of these farmers, sometimes the marbling is high, sometimes low but the cattle are young enough to still have fine fibers and therefore a quality meat.

I have experienced some very high quality strictly grass fed beef from a grower in mid state NY that had the distinct grass flavor but also some marbling. The rib eye we sampled was tender and savory. An innovator in this field is a company called TallGrass in Kansas. http://www.tallgrassbeef.com/ Bill Kurtis, ownner, has a philosophy of raising quality beef on pasture and is gaining some market share. Jo Robinson, the pasture feeding advocate, describes a good pasture fed beef farmer as more of a grass farmer, growing a high quality grass as the main food stuff.

In past posts I wrote about Scottish Highland cattle and their ability to fatten on grass and forage. They have a very fine fiber and produce a lower fat but quality meat. They are not typically raised commercially due to their excessive furry coat and very large horns but there are numerous farms throughout the US that do raise and sell their meat. NY state has over 35 farms registered as raising Highland cattle and many more in New England and Pennsylvania.

Recently we recieved a pasture raised Highland that was raised in Rhinebeck NY. It was not what I expected. The beef had absolutely no fat on the exterior and no marbling at all!. Surely this was not inducative of what this breed represents. It was by no means quality, but not because of the breed but how it was raised. The term "grass fed" doesn't simply mean the animal is allowed to roam a pasture and eat down all the grass, even though this is what, many people believe. High quality grass fed is placed on ripe fresh grass and then moved from pasture to pasture to insure the animal gets plenty of nutrition, even to the point of marbling. I have tasted numerous grass fed steaks that had marbling and might have graded low choice. I understand that Highland cattle develop less fat and maybe it was that it was an extermely hot time of year but this was a waste.

Another issue was the lack of USDA inspection. Farmers can be exempt from USDA inspection if they are selling directly to the end user. The meat must be stamped "NOT FOR SALE" as was the case on or carcass. I called the NY Ags and Markets dept. to confirm my suspicion. This meat was not legal for sale in a restaurant. But what about using it for demo in a school setting? The meat would have been consumed by students, therefore it would be considered part of their meal plan and in effect would have been sold to them, making it illegal.

The third issue was the price. I know that locally grown, fully pastured beef is going for a high price these days but this 500 lb carcass was over $3,000! I recognize the need for farmers to recoup their investment but this seemed excessive, especially considering the quality of the meat.

Lessons learned? Know your farmer if buying local. Local does not simply mean better! Be sure to purchase inspected meat if selling it in a restaurant or shop. Uninspected farmer's market meats are ok for home cooks that are not re-selling but a chef needs to be more cautious.

This post by no means was meant to discourage the use of quality grass fed beef or heritage Highland cattle but there is a right way and a wrong way to buy local meat and there was NO way we could use this example.

Over grazed pasture.

Angus Veal is Real!

Veal in the US is traditionally from Holstein cattle due to the fact that it is primarily the male offspring that aren't usable on the dairy farm. The Holstein can be raised as beef and this is done often but the meat quality is not as desired as from other "meat" breeds such as Angus or Charolais.

About three weeks ago we had the chance to break down an entire veal carcass in class. Chef Soileau purchased it from Hackett Farm, Salt Point NY. It was unique in that it wasn't the typical Holstein veal that we find in most markets, its was from Angus. The idea of taking a higher quality meat breed and harvesting it much younger enabled us to compare these veal. The carcass was a true milk fed product and the calf had been feeding on real milk for its early life but had started to eat some pasture. It was about 4 1/2 months old and weighed about 225 for the cleaned carcass, which is smaller than most of the veal that is found in the commercial marketplace today.

Chef Dave Kamen divided the carcass into the primal cuts and then my class turned everything into roasts , stew, cutlets, chops and grind. We left the breast whole for stuffing.

The color was a little more red than most veal we get but the conformation was very good. The Angus traits could be seen in the nice oval chops. We had aged it for about 8 days so it was nice and firm when we cut it. Most veal is packed about a day after slaughter and it never gets a chance to set up properly. The aging improved its flavor. When I called Chef Soileau about what he thought of it he said " Oh Man! Butter! Best ever! "

Don't expect the veal industry to jump on this band wagon though. Angus calves are very costly as a feeder stock and it may not make economic sense to raise Angus for veal but it was a delight to see this meat and taste the end result.