The Bacon Gospel : Bacon for Brooklyn

The last several weeks I have begun work on a huge on-going project, The Bacon Gospel. The first installment--"Bacon for Brooklyn"--is currently underway. In this project, I am traveling to different cities, custom-curing bacon to order for a limited amount of people, using only heritage pork, local when possible. This project has become much more than I ever expected. In giving folks the option to request flavors, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with 13 people on 10 new flavors of bacon! I have also been asked to teach a restaurant staff how to make house-cured bacon.

One thing I really hadn't anticipated was the connection that people would have to both the individual ingredients as well as overall flavors. What did the two people from Massachusetts request? Maple. Maple and nothing else, naturally. My West Indian roommate? Jerk. My food writer friend wanted seasonal fruit and herbs. One person even gave me several personally-sourced items such as ground cacao from his family's plantation in Trinidad and nutmeg from Grenada. As I begin to traverse the continent, I look forward to writing and curing at least 100 flavors of bacon! Traveling from Brooklyn to Seattle and Montreal to Austin, I don't believe that number is the least bit unrealistic. I am looking at continuing this project indefinitely, so if you'd like The Ethical Butcher to come to a city near you, don't hesitate to contact me!

To get your mouth watering and palate scheming, here are the flavors from The Bacon Gospel: Bacon for Brooklyn--

*Jerk
*Lemon-Horseradish-Turmeric
*Maple
*Whiskey-Molasses-Chipotle
*Brandy-Blackberry-Mint
*Mole Poblano
*Rum-Maple-Nutmeg
*Watermelon-Basil
*Strawberry-Tarragon
*Pineapple-Black Pepper-Clove


Check back next week for photos and notes!

Good advice.

"There is but one season of the year when salmon should be served hot at a choice repast; that is in the spring and early summer, and even then it is too satisfying, not sufficiently delicate. The man who gives salmon during the winter, I care not what sauce he serves with it, does an injury to himself and his guests."
- Ward McAllister, 'Society As I Have Found It' (1890)


I want to share this quote from my fish supplier's newsletter, taken from an article explaining the opening of Spring salmon season. Almost 120 years later, this quote is even more applicable, and if everyone back in those days and more recently felt the same, we might not be in our current predicament. Only recently have people begun to re-grasp the concept of seasonality in fruits and vegetables. Realizing that one does not need to eat strawberries and asparagus in December is a pretty new concept to most people. The same is true for fish and meat. Wild fish have seasons, and demanding them out of season not only causes problems like overfishing and pollution from poorly-run fish farms, but the resulting product is inferior. Just as the flimsy, tasteless asparagus you find in Winter, (farmed or frozen) salmon in Winter can't hold a candle to the rich, delicious freshness of in-season wild salmon. Eating seasonally doesn't require you to go without or settle for less, it gives you an opportunity to experience the wide diversity of foods available to you year-round. It is the way people have eaten for all of human history, a time-tested and sustainable choice for your body, the animals and plants you eat, and the planet.

Hanger for Bronko

Today my 6-year-old Border Collie/Black Lab mix, Bronko, will eat big chunks of hanger steak for dinner. Yesterday he had a knuckle of beef--that's the knee-cap itself plus the collagen-rich cartilage, connective tissues, and bits of meat that are left of the Sirloin Tip. This is his favorite meal of the week. It usually takes him about 45 minutes of industrious gnawing and chewing to get down to the actual bone. Satiated, panting and on what I have dubbed his "Meat High", Bronko sits unaware of his fortunes.

I actually began feeding Bronko real food way back in my vegan days. I had always distrusted most pet food, but when I became vegan, I didn't want to support the industry at all. I couldn't have my dog benefiting from the worst of the worst industrial meat. Bronko is also highly allergic to most grains, a staple of almost all commercial dog food. He would get patches of dry, itchy, cracked skin that drove him nuts. Even with the most organic, holistic of pellet-form foods I could find, I felt I could provide him with a better diet. Really now, if nutritionally balanced, would you want to eat the same exact thing every single day of your life? It's like surviving on Ensure.

Until the last century or so, dogs ate whatever scraps they found, not pellets. They are omnivorous scavengers, and as such they should be eating all sorts of foods. This in mind, I began researching homemade dog food, learning what foods are never OK, what foods are and how to cook them, supplements, etc. I also found many ready-made fresh, raw foods in some of the nicer pet stores in my then home, Seattle. I first started with these, and found that he most enjoyed a raw ground turkey and veggie blend. Remember though, I was vegan, as in I-have-a-vegan-tattoo vegan. However, I didn't believe that my dog needed to be vegan. I just couldn't cope with the turkey part of the deal. I finally settled on eggs as his protein. Eggs I could handle as long as they were from the right find of farms. I found the ratio of dog's weight/eggs a day and bought a bunch of veggies and got on my way. Until I became a butcher and then began eating meat, I fed Bronko several eggs a day on top of a mix of cooked down or shredded veggies and sometimes rice. When I became a butcher, I saw all the meat scraps, pounds of it, that we threw out everyday. I began collecting and freezing them. I figured out Bronko really only likes beef, which works out because beef has the most waste. Nowadays he enjoys all sorts of beef scraps in place of the eggs, which are now a special treat every few weeks. There's always a good amount of garlic for the fleas and the veggies I change weekly. Sometimes he gets things like a bit of plain yogurt, nutritional yeast, or peanut butter. My buddy Bronko is the picture of health, according to his vet.

Reducing waste is an important part of the sustainability equation. Pet food isn't the only way to reduce your meat waste. Make stocks from bones and skin, don't just throw them out. The biggest culprit here is chicken. Buying whole chickens instead of chicken parts not only reduces waste, but is incredibly economical. You can get a whole chicken-that's 2 breasts, 2 wings, 2 legs, and 2 thighs plus the neck and back for the same price as 2-3 boneless tasteless skinless chicken breasts. You can also make beautiful, rich stocks from the bones and heads of fish. But better than that is to eat as much of your fish as possible. Most fish skins are completely edible and delicious once cooked and hold much of the essential fatty acids and minerals we want to gain from eating fish. The cheeks and head meat of many fish are really the best parts, delicacies. You can then still make a stock with the bones and scraps of your meal. What recession?

We'll be talking more about reducing the waste involved in meat consumption later...

The King of Fighters.

For months I have been teasing customers with the start of wild salmon season. In fact, one of the two signs near my counter features a full page layout of salmon-porn. I have been looking forward to offering an alternative to farmed salmon. Salmon has been one of the few hitches in our road toward being a totally sustainable fish counter. This road has been bumpy and has presented both Bryan and I with great opportunities to educate our customers as well as ourselves.

Some decisions were easy to make, like never ordering Atlantic cod or non-organic farmed salmon. However, it has been very hard to pry people away from a few things, regardless of environmental and health concerns. Salmon has been one, shrimp is another. Big, carnivorous fish like salmon are difficult to farm responsibly because they require large amounts of fish meal/oil and constant running water. Among many other concerns with farmed salmon are the antibiotics, hormones and dyes used in the feed that end up returning to the rivers near the farms, polluting them and threatening native populations. Avoiding farmed salmon seems like a no-brainer, right? Not so easy.

People want salmon year-round, but salmon season typically only runs from late-Spring to mid-Fall. We do the best we can by buying only farmed organic salmon which scores higher on every sustainable fish guide than non-organic farmed salmon. While we only buy from companies with upstanding environmental reputations, wild salmon is a still far better choice for the environment. My hope had been to try to wean my customers off of farmed salmon, if only for the wild salmon season.

Today sad reality struck in the form of an email from my fish supplier...

Due to extremely low runs this year, both California and Oregon have completely canceled their King salmon seasons. That means all the U.S. wild King salmon we've been looking forward to has to come out of Washington, and later in the season, Alaska. Obviously, this means a much smaller amount of fish to go around. Low availability translates to higher prices, meaning I would have to sell it for about $32/lb--twice as much as the farmed organic salmon. Not exactly an enticing trade for customers. I am still crossing my fingers for the Sockeye and Coho runs, which are expected to be pretty normal this year. The few Steelhead that make it to the east coast are beautiful, too. If you see some, make sure to grab it!


In my recent post "Fish is Fish", I listed several sites to help you navigate the murky waters of choosing the right fish to eat. I encourage everyone to check with at least one list if you are not absolutely sure of both the environmental and health concerns regarding the specific species you are going to eat. The info is out there, but it is up to you to use it.

You may have also noticed that I specifically said "U.S. wild King salmon". We try to stick with only domestic fisheries, both for reducing our carbon footprint from flying seafood all over the world and because there is more oversight by U.S. environmental organizations and agencies. There is no international governing body dictating practices for the world's fisheries. Some countries encourage responsible techniques, some do not. Beyond that, it is hard to even find the regulations for some countries. As a fish buyer in Brooklyn it is much easier for me to find information on the practices of my striped bass farm in Massachusetts than it is to find out about the imported farmed shrimp that appears in my order from a different country each time. For this reason I have all but stopped selling imported shrimp. I do still keep a few bags on hand for those who just can't get down with paying $2 more for plump, juicy, never-frozen Shrimp from Florida. The same is true for wild species, I may be able to find out exactly where and how my Mahi-Mahi is caught, but Chilean sea bass is quite a risky bet. There's almost no way to be sure it wasn't poached.

I say I don't mean to preach, but I do. When it comes to fish, every single decision really counts. You're either aiding environmental destruction or stopping it, plain and simple.

The Ethical Butcher wants you!

...or your friends.


CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS !!!

Enough about me, I want to hear from other ex-veg folks! I have engaged in some exciting and lively conversations with many past and current vegans and vegetarians, and always leave feeling inspired. So inspired that I'm devoting an entire section of my book to entries by other ex-veg people. I may want to follow up with a few people, so please be sure to include your name and contact info. Please forward to anyone you think would like to be a part of this project.

I am interested in getting a wide range of opinions and experiences, so there are only a few guidelines:

* 500-2500 words
* You must have been vegetarian or vegan for at least 3 years. Sorry, pesca-veg doesn't count.
* Send entries to theethicalbutcher@gmail.com, deadline is Sept 1st.


Questions:

• When and why did you become vegetarian/vegan? To piss off your parents? Impress a girl? PETA pamphlets?
• When and why did you start eating meat? How do you now feel about your relationship to the animals you eat?
• After years of getting stuck with iceberg lettuce "salad" at restaurants while your omnivore friends ate, those times when even the fries weren't safe, and searching ingredient lists for casein, how has this change in diet affected your lifestyle?
• Where do you live? How has your location affected your meat consumption?
  
• Your favorite meat-centered recipe

School on Saturday?

Brooklyn Food Conference Park Slope Food Co-op, John Jay H.S., PS 321

Just want to let those here in Brooklyn know about an exciting event happening this weekend. The Brooklyn Food Conference is two days of films, workshops, a parade, kids activities and more.
Best if all, it is free for everyone!

It kicks off with a screening of Fresh! at the Park Slope Food Co-op Friday night. All day Saturday we're going old school, really. The classrooms of John Jay High School and PS 321 in Park Slope will be filled with Brooklynites of all kinds, united by an interest in understanding our food system. If you have the day off, maybe take a look at the workshop schedule and see if anything grabs you.
Let me know if you plan on attending, I'd love to meet up!

Breakfast: Pizza and Waffles

Ortine 622 Washington Ave.

Like many groups of urban twenty-somethings, my friends and I make it a point to meet up for brunch almost every weekend. Having 6-10 hungry, hungover eaters from different Brooklyn nabes agree on a location is never an easy feat. Ortine was a frontrunner for a few Sundays in a row, and I think I'll be pushing for it this weekend.

Run by Sarah Peck and husband Steve Guidi, Ortine is a small and intimate restaurant that describes it's cuisine as "eclectic". Indeed, one could order shakshuka and fluffy waffles with homemade granola, if that's what gets you going. The Brunch menu is simple, but everything on it full of homey deliciousness. Many of the herbs come from Sarah Peck's garden, everything else (including the meat and eggs) is delivered by Farm to Chef. Farm to Chef is an invaluable organization, bringing quality produce, meat and eggs from upstate farms to New York restaurants. The little breakfast sausage links from Argyle Farms are scrumptious and any dish featuring the velvety-rich, NY farm-fresh eggs is definitely worth trying. The breakfast pizza with its buttery crust, goat cheese, eggs and pancetta is quickly gaining a reputation. It's no wonder we all end up fighting for the last piece every time.

Ortine is open during the week for breakfast, lunch and dinner and they do an old-fashioned Sunday dinner, too.