The Whole Shebang
Mature Meat: Eating Older Animals
This week on The Whole Shebang, host John Wilkes chews on some old meat. Well, meat that's maybe not in the first flush of youth. There's growing interest around the way we look at eating mature animals and joining John on the show are those actively engaged in promoting the idea. Historically we pretty much only ever ate domestic livestock when it was no longer able to pull something, be ridden, grow wool, be milked, lay eggs or reproduce. Could we be heading back in that direction?
Joining John, Adam Danforth, new wave butcher of choice, author and all round mature meat aficionado. Fresh from receiving a James Beard Award for his new book: ˜BUTCHERING POULTRY, RABBIT, LAMB, GOAT & PORK - The Comprehensive Photographic Guide to Humane Slaughtering and Butchering.' Classically trained, he's worked with Dan Barber at Blue Hill, Marlow and Daughters in NY and given workshops at The Stone Barns Center for Agriculture. He's constantly in demand giving demonstrations and workshops across the country, as well as educating farmers looking to home-slaughter and butcher their own livestock.
Bob Kennard was the doyenne of the early organic retail scene in the UK. In the late 80s he set up the acclaimed Graig Farm Organics and developed an on-farm organic processing/retail setup employing 20 people. Nowadays he's almost singlehandedly spearheading a mutton revival in the UK. His new book with the wistful title, ‘Much Ado About Mutton,' is proving popular as he works to promote this noble meat; fittingly, the book's foreword is by mutton fan HRH Prince Charles.
Kathy Webster is Beef Marketing Manager at LeftCoast Grass-Fed, Pescadero, CA - part of the 1,800 acre TomKat Ranch. Production is geared up to utilize forage in rearing top class 100% grass fed beef in the coastal hills near Santa Cruz. Kathy relates the findings of LeftCoast's recent blind tasting of meat from an 8 yr old Angus beef cow against that from a 2 yr old prime Angus steer. The results - just released - from the 20 grass-fed beef enthusiasts who took part are fascinating to say the least.
Claire Herminjard, CEO, Cofounder, and Board Director - "Mindful Meats." Based in Point Reyes Station, California, the company works with organic meat sourced from organic dairy cows and marketed to the likes of top Chef José Andrés. Claire holds a BA in Public Policy studies from Duke University where she had a focus on moral leadership. She learned to butcher whole animals under Executive Chef Sean Baker of Gather Restaurant.