There are a lot of chefs butchering their own animals lately – from our own board member, Michael Leviton, working magic with knife and saw on locally-raised goats, to member Chris Cosentino breaking down whole animals and singing the praises of lesser-known parts. One of our – dare I say – favorites, is member Matt Jennings, chef/owner of Farmstead and La Laiterie in Providence, RI. Matt regularly butchers and uses whole, sustainably-raised local pigs in his restaurant, and last Sunday he decided to share the love with amateur pork aficionados by holding a pork butchering workshop. Dubbed “Bloody Sunday” and complete with local vodka Bloody Marys and amazing pork-centric treats (pork belly bbq sandwiches, pork rillettes, country pate… yum!), it was a perfect “day of animal appreciation,” as Matt explained it. After the demo was over, Matt auctioned off the resulting pork cuts and, to our surprise, donated the proceeds to Chefs Collaborative. Thank you Matt, and all our members, for working so hard to make our food system more local, sustainable and [definitely!] delicious, and for partnering with us along the way.
Matt’s pork farmers, the Vinagros of Hill Farm in Foster, RI
Pig parts, nearing the end of the demo
Photos by Kate Jennings and Jon Gold
Posted by: Anne
January 27th, 2010 at 12:08 pm
It was a wonderful and delicious afternoon! Any plans for another more hands-on workshop?
January 31st, 2010 at 2:01 am
I just attended a similar event at Mosefund Farm in upstate NJ. Chef Michael Clampfer hosted 12 attendees, who spent three days with Christoph and Isabell Weisner from Austria. We killed and butchered 7 Mangalista pigs, learning the old school aritisnal methods from Christoph and his wife. Michael Leviton and Bob del Grosso were there.
February 4th, 2010 at 5:12 pm
Cool. Are you a chef? Will you start sourcing Mangalista pigs for the restaurant?
February 4th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
We’ll have hands-on workshops at our National Summit, this October 3-5 in Boston. You should come!