butchery class.

Just a few short months ago, I proposed the idea of "Lady Butcher" to a friend. I had been post-vegetarian for about a year-- struggling to find pleasure in food again and wanting to be being a "good steward" of my money, meat resources, and even my desire to eat healthful and tasty foods. I thought I could go on a meat journey and document my findings, perhaps in the form of a reality television show. Unfortunately, it turns out that even though I live in Los Angeles, a reality television opportunity was not dropped in my lap. Hence, I started a blog. I didn't know what would come of it, but looking back, I am pretty excited for what I've learned and that I have already had the chance to go behind the scenes of a super neat, artisan, lady-owned butcher shop!

Thank you for following my story!

Here are some photographs and highlights. (I didn't take that many pictures because I was pretty focused and aware of sharp objects.)

We had the opportunity to learn about two animals, pig and lamb. First up was the pig. Suckling pig, to be exact. What is a suckling pig, you say? This refers to a very young animal that has never been fed solid food and has not developed its muscles fully, resulting in very tender meats. For us in the butcher class, this also meant that the animal was small enough to arrive at the shop relatively intact, i.e., head and trotters still attached. Basically, full-on shock value.

The class was structured in a way that all of the participants had the opportunity to make several cuts on each animal. I had been feeling a little nervous, so I was very happy that I was not making the first cut of the day.

The first cut was the head.

Next, the trotters.

Then, my turn, removing the kidneys (the only organs left in by the slaughterhouse. Sidenote: slaughterhouses remove and clean out the animals before they arrive at a butcher shop, resulting in a much less gruesome process than I imagined. Butchers actually have to purchase many of those parts back from slaughterhouses if they want to use and/or sell them!), doing some cleaning touch-ups, and making the first cut to divide the beast into sections. We used three tools, a flexible boning knife, a hand saw, and a cleaver with a mallet. There didn't seem to be specific tools for specific tasks, we were instructed to use what felt comfortable and appropriate.

After lunch, my queasiness had dissipated. I thought, gosh, the lamb wouldn't be too difficult as it looked much more like a piece of meat than a furry creature... but I had to go first this time around!

I was the only female in the class and had stayed pretty silent throughout the process, so I wasn't totally prepared for what I was asked to do, but I'm super happy I got to do it! While the lamb was hanging from the hook, I split and tore off the flanks and skirts, cleaned out the inside, and then...

Made that cut. First, I made an incision straight through, then sliced from the spine out on both sides. Next, I was told to wrap my leg and my arms around the lamb and snap the spine where I had made the cut. Wow! That was intense! Then, I supported the weight on my leg and cut behind the spine, caught it when it dropped, and hoisted it up on the table. Whew!

I felt pretty bad ass. I can't come up with a more appropriate word.

When the cuts were being portioned for us to take home, I happily said that I had a meat grinder and, why yes, I do make sausages! And I would take the fun bits for stock-making. Perhaps the other dudes in my class thought they were making out because they got to fight over the pig head, but for the man and I, the ground meat and stocks will be far more useful. I got some nice steaks too (and those were fun to cut down!) and a package labeled "pig shoulder."

Honestly, I think that was the biggest thing that I learned was that it all was very intuitive. The parts of the animal dictated how the cuts were to be made and the butchers worked instinctively. Not to get too philosophical, but this wasn't surprising. I carry no judgement for the decisions people make about their eating habits and choices, but we seem to be carnivorous beasts at heart and this opportunity reinforced that notion for me. So thank you, Avedano's (and to the ladies at Sweet Meats for telling me about them!) for a highly fulfilling experience.

carnivore! the talk is all meat at LA weekend.

Whew! There sure were a lot of happenings in LA this weekend. There was the annual Festival of Books at UCLA, the Grilled Cheese Invitational, and LA Weekly's LA Weekend. I chose the underdog-- LA Weekend-- for the Jonathon Gold-moderated panel Carnivore! Perhaps the Weekly's event picked up later in the day, but attendance was slim for this excellent discussion. All of you lovers of books and bread missed out though- the range of panelists and opinons they shared were quite impressive.

The advertised participants were Jonathan Gold, LA Weekly's restaurant critic, Mark Peel of Campanile, Octavio Becerra of Palate Food & Wine, and Susan Feniger of Street. As most events do, it started about 40 minutes late, which left me curious about why there were five chairs on stage for quite some time. A surprise guest? Yes! Worth the wait. Happily, the last guest was Vinny Dotolo, co-founder of Animal and winner (along with Jon Shook) of Food & Wine's Best New Chef award.

First of all, I thought the selection of panelists was pretty exquisite. Mark Peel is legendary, having worked with Wolfgang Puck for years. He was very intelligent and well-spoken, coming from a background of agricultural economics and history. Octavio Becerra is an chef who knows the importance of butchering skills. For years, he has been an advocate of using all parts of an animal in cooking and is a food detective, seeking out the best in all of his meats and produce. Susan Feniger spoke from a health- and environmentally-conscious perspective. Her latest restaurant venture uses meat as a "condiment" instead of in the forefront of dishes. Dotolo filled the place of the young, edgy chef who brings a refreshing passion to his work, really believing that food and cooking is art, reflected on his menu in the phrase "changes and modifications politely declined."

Many apologies for the poor photo quality.


Gold, Peel, and Becerra


Feniger and Dotolo

One of the major conclusions was that the panelists and the attendants are not representative of our country (or the world, obviously), so even if we believe that animals deserve respect and that we deserve to eat the tastiest foods we can, not everyone shares these ideals, either because it is not a personal priority or because they simply cannot afford to invest in better quality products. Can the majority pay $16 for a humanely-raised, grass-fed, local, organic cheeseburger when the fast food joint across the street sells a moderately tasty (though heart-attack inducing, environment-destroying, and cut from an animal that has never seen the light of day) burger for 99-cents? Opinions and solutions differed between the panelists. The idealists stuck to the supply-and-demand principle, that if we spend money on higher quality products now, more will have to be produced, eventually bringing costs down. The others saw the reality that most people will never pay for higher quality meats and concluded that government regulation is the only option.

Needless to say, each panelist was on top of the current dynamics in the food world, so there was one point that left me confused. Gold's opening question hit on Padma Lakshmi's Carl's Jr. ad. I get it. She's sexy. She was raised as a vegetarian Hindu but now eats beef. She's a pop-culture foodie icon but devours fast food. Even though I was trying not to roll my eyes that this was the first point, I was excited because I thought the issue of women in the food/meat/butchering industry would be brought to the forefront. Unfortunately, it was kind of brushed over. When the floor opened for audience questions, the first question related to feminism and meat. What a let-down it was when there was an immediate and unanimous conclusion that sexuality and carnivousness were completely seperate. Why, then, are there twice as many female vegetarians than male? Why, when dining out, do women more often dine on salad or pasta while the man orders the big, juicy steak? Why, in most households, does the only time men cook involve a grill while the women make the casseroles, desserts, salads, and baked goods?

I don't want to dwell on the negative as I really enjoyed the discussion. It was totally a celebration of meat and the way that it should be consumed-- coming from animals that were well-fed and lived a healthy, low-stress life and savored in moderation in an environment that compliments the food. It should be an experience that is intentional and respected on every level. Taking an animal's life in order to sustain our own is never something that should be taken lightly. As Peel said, it is something that is "sacred and profound, flesh to flesh."

So, are we willing to be conscious omnivores, paying more for quality meats in hopes of improving our food experience and our country's sad agricultural state? If it can be as easy as lunching on grass-fed beef and family-raised pork hot dogs from the Let's Be Frank truck parked on Vine today, I should think so!

coming soon!

as good of a place as any to start.
please join me on my journey to become a young female butcher in los angeles!
yes, we're talking cutter of meats.
maker of sausages.
slicer of bacons!
discoverer of farms where cows roam free and grow to become the steaks i have learned to love.

pleased to accept any helpful hints along the way.