A Real Butchershop

All things considered, the connection between a customer and his local meat purveyor is personal based on four easy conversations; the cut, cooking techniques, politics and unusual acts of sport heroism. Butcher/customer relations are paramount to finding out what you are eating and if it is from good provenance. Conversely with the supermarkets going up-market featuring local food, the questioned can be asked - Are "real" butchershops going the way of the Five and Dime?

Toronto’s finest meat artisans would disagree and say that the art of butchery is thriving with people sharing the relationship between farmer, butcher and customer. An example of this personal relation can be seen daily at Olliffe when the staff helpfully asks how the customer plans to cook what is being purchased. They do this in the hope a suggestion is requested as they do love to talk turkey (so to speak). A big advantage small specialty shops have over larger stores is the personable ability to pass on preparation suggestions that have been paid forward by a previous customer.

Consider the commercial pork industry in Ontario. The commercial pork we commonly find is a cross breed called Landraise mixed with York. These large growing animals are quite lean with the taste-enhancing fat having been bred out. Less fat means more muscle which in turns means margin for the processors (but not necessarily the farmers).

At the finest butchershops in Canada you will find heritage breeds such as Berkshire, Tamworth, Wild Boar, Iron Age and more. An example at Olliffe is our exclusive breed Tamshire. Derived from a cross of TAMworth and Berk, people enjoy the fattiness of the Berkshire coupled with the original big pork taste of the Tamworth breed. A regular customer and devoted Tamshire buyer at Olliffe commented recently that he nearly forgot what pork tasted like when “he was a boy.” Next time you are at your local meat counter have a look for heritage breeds on display. Usually you can tell when there is a descriptor/name/origin along with the label rather than only labeled as “Pork”.

The point of the matter is that the art of butchery, foraging for the best provenance of breed and talking with customers is what the real butchershop advantage is. A real butchershop is about conversing, suggesting, sourcing and sometimes
a laugh.