Steer Slaughter

We attended our second slaughter this weekend. This time we came to witness a steer be slaughtered. It was less shockling to watch this time. For one I knew, more or less, what to expect. Als,o Hans Sebold (the one who did the killing and dressing and a master butcher) had us stand much further back when he shot it. It was also freezing out, so we were already uncomfortable and slightly distracted.

But there were some real differences in the process that had their own effect. One, maybe obviously, is that steer are much larger (1500 lbs vs 300 lbs.).  Another difference is that the steer must be skinned after it has bled out and before evisceration. Due to the large size- once the cow is shot in the brain, falls to the ground, and has bled out of the cuts made in its neck- the steer is propped up on its back (using large cement blocks) to start skinning process. Hans began removing the hide at the legs,  and then he slit the hide down the middle of the belly, from the hind-legs to the base of the skull. He then carefully removed the hide, in on large piece, by lightly cutting the layer of fat that connects the hide to the body. It is a surreal sight. There is little blood as it has led out and the heart is no longer pumping. Te hide is removed like a jacket. With confident movements Hans slowly had the hide removed fro the bottom half of the steer, and it was beginning to resemble what we see in the walk in of the shop.

It was, then, time to hang it from the gantry and remove the rest of the hide as well as the head, and guts. Hans removed the rest of the hide from the steers body and then removed its head. It was at this point that we were looking at beef and not a steer. Hans went on to split its gut open letting the them spill out on pasture below it. We still can not get used to how abstractly beautiful the guts are when they spill out. 

Hans cut the steer into manageable quarters (front and hind), so that they could hang for at least a week before being further broken-down into cook-friendly cuts and proportions. It was once again a profound experience and we are grateful for the opportunity to have participated in it.

For more photos click here:

steer slaughter

Pig to Pork

This weekend, thanks to Fleisher's, we had a profound experience. We participated in our first slaughter. There is no real way to prepare for such an event. So, we arrived- anxious and excited- on a perfect autumn day, at a gorgeous small family farm. After some coffee and muffins, we walked through an idyllic Hudson Valley pasture to get to the pig and to start the slaughter process.

Leading us through the process were the Smother Bros. of butchery- Joshua Applestone and Tom Schneller. As we stood at the edge of the pasture one couldn't help thinking- "this is how every slaughter should be conducted." The temperature was cool enough so that one didn't have to worry about spoilage, the sun was bathing us in warm light so no one was uncomfortable, and Tom (the one doing the acutall killing) stood there confidently (a twinge of apprehension on his face) talking us through the process, while Josh threw in jokes here and there, easing the tension we all held.

The first two steps were, one- to make sure the cauldron of water was hot enough to scald the hair of the animal but not hot enough to par-boil it. And, two-  to get the pulley and gantry ready- the metal bar from which the pig is lifted off the ground and hung upside down, making the bleeding-out and eviscerating easier and quicker. As the water reached the correct temperature we all walked over, apprehensively, to where the pig lazily lay. Tom walked over to it, .22 in hand, gave it some food, held the rifle to its forehead and pulled the trigger. Knocked out- the pig rolled over, and with precision Tom stuck his 5" blade into the jugular allowing the animal to bleed out as quickly as possible. The animal's unconscious body spasmed for a few minutes and then stopped. Four of us picked up the still warm body of the pig, put it in the pack of ATV and brought it over to the cauldron and tree where it would be scalded, hung and eviscerated.

 For us, that was the most intense moment. The actually killing was not as upsetting as we thought it might be. This was due to Tom's skill and poise as well, as the evidence that surrounded us attesting the wonderful life that this pig had led. But during the journey from the kill spot to the gantry we watched the pig go from being an animal to being a large piece of meat.

Once the pig had been scalded in the 150˚ f water  we all took turn scraping off the hair. Scraped clean, we raised the gantry, a metal bar which is hooked into the tendons in the pigs feet, and Tom eviscerated it. As he slit the underside of the belly steam poured out and the organs easily slipped into the bucket below. We saw evidence of how humade the kill was as the bladder of the pig was full (under stress the pig would have expelled it bowels).

The 300 lbs pig was now about 270 lbs of pork.

For more images go here:

Pig Slaughter

NYTimes Magazine Food Issue(s)

There is a great article, by Christine Muhlke, in this last Sunday's NYTimes Magazine (the annual food issue), titled "Growing Together". The article is all about the way in which food and the current food movement in particular have created different kinds of communities, it is also very honest about the limits of those communities. Everyone should read it, really, it is worth reading the whole issue. Rob Walker describes 'kitchen incubators' in his column 'Consumed'. Michael Pollan, a hero of ours, has a great piece about a 36 hour local food party, we wish we could have been there. Pollan describes the building, the use of, and the symbolic meaning of the communal hearth, an idea that we think and talk about a lot (probably a future SM project). Another short little piece of interest is 'The Cow-munity' about a community of people who buy shares in a pasture raised local steer. It is an example of a good option for those who don't have a Fleisher's nearby, and also of how food can create unusual communities.  Also read Pie + Design = Change an article about food, community, art and social intervention!!! It describes a design collective, very much like us, called Project M, we look forward to learning more about them. Finally, is the the west coast that much cooler than us? Certainly the Bay Area seems to be a few steps ahead of us North Easterners: Food Groups.

Many Meats

The first week of training at Fleisher's Grass-fed and Organic Meats is over. The week really flew by. Fleishers is a unique place for a lot of reasons: the personalities that work there and shop there, the love of food (meat in particular) and the dedication to sustainability. There is a lot to talk about and a lot more time (at least 7 more weeks) to experience and learn new tings.

Obviously, when in a butcher shop that has distinguished itself by its dedication to both sustainability and high quality, it brings lots of different kinds of consumers. Customers come to Fleisher's because it is the best butcher-shop in the area, both in quality of meat and also range in product. Some come because of its cult status in the food world. Some come because of its distinctive and marked political position. Some come and buy that rare and luxurious dry aged porterhouse as a celebration, others come on an almost daily basis and buy hamburger meat or chicken wings. Hipsters, bubbies, New Yorkers, Hedge-funders, Woodstockers who never left, and locals all shop here (as well as many of the most trendy restaurants in NYC). All of this is remarkable, the diversity of consumers and there needs are astounding. This diversity is due to Josh and Jess's commitment to high quality product, sustainability, health, and local economy. It is rare to see all this balanced and the success of that balance is what opens itself up to such a wide range of consumers.

Frans' Ekolgisk Farm

Staying with Frans and Gunilla has been a wonderful way to experience Gotland. Between traveling to Frans' farm, in Dalhem (from the small island of Fårö where they live)- to baking and eating in Gunilla's kitchen, and exploring their friends shops throughout Gotland- we feel we have gotten a sense of Gotland's rich traditions and culture- or at least as much as one could get in three weeks.

Frans (pictured above) is one of the leading organic (ekologisk) farmers in Gotland, and in all of Sweden. He farms on about 100 acres of land mostly growing root vegetables- potatoes, carrots, onions, garlic, and Jerusalem artichokes- and a little dill (a standard crop in Sweden). He also experiments with crops, some years trying chard, others dinkel (or old wheat). He also raises about 4 dozen Gotland sheep and 15-20 heads of beef cattle a year.

Frans is devoted to ekolgoisk farming and comes from a long (hundred's of years) line of Gotland farmers. He and his father turned the farm into an organic farm (a process that takes quite a few years) in the late 1980's, since 1994 everything, including the animals has been organic. Since then he has risen to the forefront of the organic farming movement in Sweden- he is the president of the organic farming organization/co-op SAM Odlarna Sverige, and an active member of Ekolgiska Lantbrukarna.

He is passionate, knowledgeable, and practical about the subject. It makes him angry that even though it only costs grocery stores a few more cents to buy organic produce wholesale, they double the price at retail- discouraging consumers from buying organic and turning it into a rarefied privilege. He also realizes that without a large semi-industrial farm like his, farmers must find a niche to be profitable- he thinks this is especially true in America.

Here that need for a niche is supplemented by tourists and their fetishization of Gotland's sheep. Most farms have small annexed stores that sell local produce and wool handicrafts. Frans' sister Anna and her husband have one such store a few kilometers from his farm where they sell Frans' vegetables, the spun wool and sheep skins from their small flock, hand-knit socks and hats (made by their aunt). Anna still needs an answer to niche marketing- she finds it in her amazing home pressed and bottled cider made from apples both grown on their land and supplied by neighboring farms. Waste not want not, they sell beautiful glass goblets that are, of course, locally made and re-processed from the used cider-bottles.

Gotland's Sheep

Everywhere you look on Gotland you see small black and grayish sheep wandering around munching on grass and bleating. Often it is hard to tell to if there is even a shepherd attached to these sheep. Every farm seems to have at least a handful of these small woolly sheep. Attached to most of these farms are little shops that sell some of these goods produced on the farm or on the neighboring farms. Two things you can invariably find in these shops are lammskinns (exactly what they sound like) and beautiful spun grey wool, still oozing the smell of lanolin.

Frans' farm has about 4 dozen Gotland sheep (some are seen above eating the "bad" carrots he harvested earlier in the summer) and a few Leicester (which have finer and whiter wool, but are not native). The Gotland sheep are not the original native breed- that is the Gute- but since the Gute's genetic characteristics made it less desirable than other European breeds, it was cross bred with the with Karakuls and Romanovs during the early 1900's.

The Gotlands are raised primarily for meat, but the skins, and more and more the spun wool is being sold to tourists and being sued by local crafts people. Because of the EU's progressive agricultural politics many people have been able to hold on to there flocks even when they are not able to support themselves from it. The EU recognizes the important of the keeping these smaller breeds and genetics alive, and also the ecological use of the Gotlands, nothing keeps the land clear (and therefor more desirable for tourism) as economically and sustainably as the Gotland. You can read more about the EU's agricultural policies on there website.