Tunis sheep are shaded tan to red with the occasional white spot on the tail or head. Their wool turns whiter and creamier in color as they age. Tunis produce a good amount of wool, meat, and milk, they are heat tolerant as well as cold tolerant, and the rams breed vigorously out of season, making them good members of the farm team! Taste notes for Tunis meat which has been celebrated gastronomically for three millennia include earthy, minerally, buttermilk, light, and silky.
The Tunis is one of America’s oldest breeds and derives from early crosses between lamb that were already here, and the Tunis breed which arrived to these shores by way of the Barbary Coast and the coastal regions of central and western North Africa. The Tunis is also referred to as the Barbary sheep and can be traced to Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt but it can be found throughout the Middle East. In Biblical times the Tunis ancestor was referred to as the fat-tailed or broad-tailed sheep and renowned for providing wool for carpets as well as food.
After the Revolutionary War, at least one Barbary sheep was brought to these shores to Henry Laurens, a wealthy merchant who lived in the South where so many of our country’s great gastronomic traditions began. Descendants of these sheep ended up with Charles Ward Apthorp, Esq on the island of Manhattan in New York City and possibly grazed in Central Park. Other importations of the Tunis followed in the coming years thanks to American connections to the Barbary Coast. The first U.S. military land action overseas was executed by the U.S. Marines and Navy in 1805 at the Battle of Derna, at Tripoli. It was part of an effort to destroy control of the local waters by Barbary pirates. The opening line of the Marines’ hymn refers to this action: "From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.”
In 1799 contract negotiations to combat piracy included a caveat that a group of broad-tailed Tunis would be shipped to the Colonies and Captain Henry Geddes boarded sheep onto his man-of-war ship, Sophia. The animals didn’t fare well and only a ram and ewe survived — but she did continue to produce offspring until she was 16 years old. The breeding pair ended up on a farm owned by Judge Richard Peters of Belmont, Pennsylvania, who made the Tunis rams available for breeding. Descendants of Judge Peters' sheep became established in Maryland, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia. Word spread that Tunis mutton was of excellent quality and that Tunis meat in general was sweet, juicy, savory, and highly marbled. Thomas Jefferson and George Washington among others were quick to get into the Tunis game.
Sonja Pyne writes in her informative Tunis History, “Jefferson became quite enamored of his and wrote that raising the breed “pure” was a “favorite object,” and especially valued the Tunis for their meat, “the most delicious I have ever tasted.” His sheep grazed the lawns of both the White House and his Monticello plantation. Unfortunately, two of Jefferson’s Tunis rams were killed by a Shetland ram – “[an] abominable animal,” he raged.”
George Washington reportedly used a Tunis ram to improve wool production. His Tunis/Leicester cross became known as the Arlington breed named after Martha Washington’s grandson’s home.
The Civil War all but destroyed the Tunis population in the South. But the livestock show circuit around the country in later decades proved invaluable for rescuing the breed from extinction. Later the large tail was bred out by a Pennsylvania farmer with the last name of Powell who bred in the Southdown breed that produced white wool and a breed that looks like the Tunis we know today.
We are in love with the Tunis breed because of its unrivaled marbled meat, but also because of its amazing history. Tunis is an ancient breed. Pyne writes that “Perhaps the earliest images of fat-tailed or broad-rumped sheep appear on a wall in Steenbokfontein Cave on the western Cape of Africa, their name rumbles through the Old Testament where a lamb, including its fat tail or rump, is a sacrifice required of Aaron’s sons as a peace offering to Yahweh; and images of these sheep decorate maps of Africa as early as the 16th century.” Centuries later the breed would become a means for wealthy landowners to improve the state of agriculture in the Americas.
]]>The basic stock of the Berkshire was refined early on with a cross of east Asian bloodlines by Lord Barrington in 1823. But since then, for the past 200 years, breeding was carried out dutifully to the letter, preserving the exact traits of the Berkshire so that the pig of the early 1800s is almost identical to the one we know today. Over the decades rumors of breeder skills grew along with the reputation of delicious Berkshire pork, throughout England, the U.S., Japan, and today to wherever pigs are loved.
Breeding is an art, it is where the pedal of livestock farming hits the metal. Good breeding is why some foods — or pork chops — taste better than others, why some meats are sweet and juicy and others dry, and why are some meals are remembered years later and others forgotten within minutes! It is possible that Berkshire farmers got a head start as some believe the breed has unusually small muscle fibers and more of them, increasing their ability to bind water and therefore to produce supremely juicy and tender meat.
The most reliable method for deciding which sows and boars to keep and breed and which not to keep is based off a pig’s siblings – barrows and gilts. Good quality in one means brothers and sisters should be similar in conformation. One can also determine meat quality once a pig reaches market weight but at this point in the process many pigs are already on the ground and breed improvement is more difficult.
Live evaluation, or the eye test, has been the most reliable method of breeders until the invention of machines. For generations and across livestock, farmers judge the conformation of an animal including how it is built from the feet, legs, muscle, to their gait. Each piglet identifies with its own nipple when nursing, so it’s important to select for six nipples on each side of the sow and the boar. Six on each side ensures each piglet in a litter of twelve has a food source. The length of animal is also important — the Berkshire is known to be a longer breed thus producing more chops and bacon and cuts that are a perfect size for the end user.
The eye test determines if certain pigs can survive better than others and if they can naturally mate easily. Smaller producers who are loyal to the preservation culture of heritage breeds take the time to pay attention to these details ensuring consistently great meat. For these breeders a well-rounded and balanced animals is their goal and they breed for quality not quantity.
Corporations also make breeding choices but for them desired traits are fast growth and feed conversion. Fat is also bred out even though fat is where the flavor is. By crossing Berkshires with other breeds they get what they are looking for but the flavor changes.
For these reasons we partnered with purebred smaller scale Berkshire farmers when we first started Heritage Foods in 2004. And it is why we eventually partnered with Newman Farm in the Ozarks to raise such a large percentage of our supply. We first received a letter from Mark Newman in the mail telling us about his Berkshire herd. It would turn into a relationship that lasted over 20 years. David Newman is Mark and Rita’s son and is widely considered the foremost breed expert on Berkshire breeding in the U.S. and maybe the world. He now runs the farm.
The Newmans originally chose the Berkshire because of its rich tradition in England where for centuries it was prized as the best eating pig — for years the Royal Family kept a large Berkshire herd at Windsor Castle. He loved the purity of the Berkshire and the story of preservation it represented. And he loved the taste of its meat!
The two of the most important traits for David are mothering ability and meat quality and the Berkshire is known for both. Maternal traits include docility, decent litters, and the ability to produce good milk — his goal is 8-10 piglets per litter when the sow farrows twice a year. Meat quality is judged by tenderness, marbling, and color. David and other leaders in the industry are constantly testing the Berkshire for meat quality. Because David is a meat scientist he searches for facts and uses machines.
The Berkshire consistently scores higher than other breeds for color, marbling, and tenderness. The color is darker — 3 or better on their scale — and marbling ratings clock in at 3% or better. Tenderness is measured with a machine (called Warner/Bratlzer Shear Force Test) for the threshold in pounds of force – when the meat is tough to sheer it gets a low score. If all good, the pig gets an ear notch for a permanent method of identification while bad genetics are sent to the processor.
According to the best available records, the first Berkshires were brought to the United States in 1823. Famous boars were touted at fairs and in show rings around the country, famous for providing the best quality pork. Farmers paid a good premium to bring descendants of these great pigs onto their farms to start Berkshire herds or to cross them with pigs they already had. Berkshires almost guaranteed better pork quality and their black coat made them resistant to sunburn, their fat made them hardy, meaning they were great survivors.
In 1875, a group of Berkshire breeders and importers met in Springfield, Illinois, to establish a way of keeping the Berkshire breed pure and the American Berkshire Association was founded, officially codifying the traits of the Berkshire forevermore. The first pig registered was a boar named Ace of Spades, reportedly bred by Queen Victoria. Only directly imported stock from established English herds, or hogs tracing directly back to such imported animals, would be accepted as true Berkshires.
Berkshires of today are black pigs with white spots. The pig has a short, dished face with ears pointed slightly forward. Most have six white spots — on the tip of the feet, nose, and tail — but not all. The chops are perfectly sized and no one cut is unusual in any way — to many it is the perfect pig.
The Berkshire pig is not on the brink of extinction but it’s still very rare. As David says, “no one could scale the Berkshire if you wanted to.” Back in England, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, traditional breeds like the Berkshire were cast aside in favor of the bigger, leaner white breeds from mainland Europe. The Berkshire fell into the hands of enthusiasts, who continued to raise them with the support of organizations like the British Pig Association and the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.
In the U.S. it was thought that Japan, where Berkshires are known as Korobuta, would help preserve the breed. The pigs were first exported to Japan in the 1860s and a major push took place in the 1990s. But since then demand in Japan has dwindled. Thankfully since then, chefs in professional kitchens have started to demand the Berkshire breed and its population counts are rising.
]]>The Wattles ancestor can be traced to China, as all domesticated pigs can be, where it was eventually boarded onto small long-voyaging ships destined for the South Pacific. Centuries later, it again took up cherished spots on boats, this time French ones, bound for New Orleans where it became the pork of choice for Creole and Cajun chefs, at the same time when jazz was being created as an artform. Years later the pig was allowed to roam almost wild in the forests of Texas. Then it was reported extinct. But somehow it survived. In the 2000s the Red Wattle would become a household name among chefs — again — for its meat quality.
The history of the Red Wattle can be traced back 1,000 years or more. The wattles — fleshy protuberances that that hang from its jowl — is a signature feature, along with its cinnamon colored skin, allowing the breed to be recognized over time. All pigs used to have wattles, but today the Red Wattle is one of the very last varieties left in the world to retain the trait that is carried by a single gene.
There is a theory that this pig came to the US from the Spanish, but most think the breed came here from New Caledonia, including the most definitive source for all things livestock, The Encyclopedia of Historic and Endangered Livestock and Poultry Breeds by Janet Vorwald Dohner. This makes the breed the only breed of pig in the US that we know about that did not arrive here by way of Europe. The peoples of the Pacific Islands have a long history with pigs, a livestock deeply woven into their cultural food traditions. Even the Disney character Moana had a pet pig! But New Caledonia is a remote island, about 750 miles from Australia, with no native livestock. So where did the ancestors of the Red Wattle originally come from?
Wild boars are native to many places. Domesticated pigs were developed in China and spread throughout the world including to New Caledonia. Pigs moved through active trade routes and when Chinese settled in new places, bringing their food culture with them including breeds of ducks and ancestors of the Red Wattle. Documentation exists showing Chinese migration to Southeast Asia by the 10th century, but as early as the 3rd century, barbarian invasions in the wake of civil war, plague, and famine led to entire communities moving south. Chinese of later eras, as well as other groups, also conducted oceanic voyages into the Pacific including the Neolithic Lapita culture — or Austronesians — beginning around 1500 B.C. Around 1200-1500 years ago the Polynesians brought more pigs, the Kunekune (which also have wattles) being perhaps the most famous.
Whether our Red Wattle predecessors arrived to the Pacific one, two, or three millennia ago, either way, they had been there for a long time. As the centuries rolled on, before Europeans arrived, the Melanesians of New Caledonia selected, developed, and some would say perfected the physical and taste characteristics of the Red Wattle — they made it their own. We can see how good a job they did by the fact that the journey of the breed around the world was in some ways just beginning.
The first European to arrive in 1774 was the British navigator James Cook, who christened the country “New Caledonia” because the mountainous scenery of the main island reminded him of his native Scotland. Red Wattles might have been brought to the Americas between Cook’s arrival and 1846. During this span, the Northwest Company and Hudson's Bay Company merged, creating three new trading regions New Caledonia, Thompson River Watershed, and Columbia District. But by 1846 the British relinquished any claim to territory south of the 49th parallel in signing the Oregon Treaty.
More plausibly the Red Wattle came to these shores by way of the French. In 1853 France took possession of most of present-day New Caledonia with the aim of reserving the territory as a possible site for a penal colony. It is about at this moment that the pig arrived in New Orleans, a region of the Americas with deep French roots. Again, the Wattle was going places.
Before the arrival of Europeans, there existed no domesticated livestock on these lands — only wild animals like bison (and the turkey, which many Native groups did actually domesticate). Most livestock were brought here when the Spanish, Dutch, English, and French arrived from Europe during early expeditions starting in the 16th century. The Spanish Churro lamb is credited as being the first domesticated species to land here (soon after which the Navajo peoples tuned it into an integral part of their culture), and many others followed including pig varieties like the Berkshire, Gloucestershire Old Spot, and Tamworth. But not the Red Wattle — it came later and by way of Asia and the South Pacific.
Even with many European varieties available in the Americas at that time, it was the Wattle that would be embraced by the leaders of what is perhaps our greatest gastronomic contribution to the world, along with BBQ. Once in New Orleans it quickly became a favorite meat breed and would come to populate backyards, serving as a backbone to any recipe calling for pork in the local Creole and Cajun cuisine.
Then, remarkably, the history of the Red Wattle gets murky — again. Once their celebrity moment in New Orleans ends, they next appear in the forests of east Texas where the breed was known as woods hogs. Farmers had found a place for the herds and the Wattle had found a way to survive. From time-to-time the locals rounded the pigs up on horseback using trained dogs and hauled them away to the great slaughterhouses of Chicago. The Wattle pig was important enough — and delicious enough — that it spawned a cowboy/shepherding culture around it, following in the footsteps of cattle and even bison. Red Wattle pigs were sturdy, hearty, adaptable — they were survivors.
As time progressed, the destruction they caused by their rooting led to their near extinction. But a few farmers must have kept them or been aware that some were still out there somewhere. One day in the late 1970s, a Texas pig farmer named H.C. Wengler stumbled upon a clan of pigs roaming around the eastern part of the state, recognizable by their color and unmistakable wattles and he took them in.
A re-re-re-renaissance was afoot! Thanks to Wengler, other farmers took on Wattle boars and sows as well. Larry and Madonna Sorell, who we had worked with for three years already through the heritage turkey project, were among them. They ran the most idyllic farm in Glasco, Kansas, not far from Salina. Tucked into their wild patch of woods and small paddocks lived many rare breeds including Scottish Highlands, Narragansett and Bourbon Red turkeys, Cornish chickens, and a donkey with a bum leg. Madonna was the best cook we ever came across in our travels and her home resembled a doll house even though in it they had raised ten children. The Red Wattle was a perfect addition, roaming their woods, almost feral but still domesticated. Little did they know that those pigs would soon become celebrities.
One day in 2004 we visited Larry and Madonna, soon after having started Heritage Foods to preserve livestock breeds from extinction by selling them. We came with four New York chefs for a side-by-side breed tasting to see which breed we should start growing in larger numbers. That tasting was attended by Mark Ladner, Jason Denton, Zach Allen and Steve Connaughton. As had happened throughout history, the Red Wattle was singled out.
Next came a handshake and a commitment to launch something together even if it would take years to accomplish — breeding pure Red Wattles takes time. Larry and Madonna combed the Midwest buying up Red Wattles from farms and loading them on their truck to take back home to start a rare breed herd that would eventually be anchored by a consortium of their local Amish.
Today the farmers raise, and we purchase, about 75 Wattles each-and-every week of the year, a small number in the grand scheme of things but a significant number in the rare breed world. The non-profit Livestock Conservancy lists the Red Wattle as Threatened: breeds with fewer than 1,000 annual registrations in the U.S. and an estimated global population less than 5,000.
Over subsequent years, the Wattle herd grew and would come to populate menus at great restaurants across the country. At NYC’s Lupa Restaurant the Boston Butts were the main ingredient for some of the best pasta sauces in the nation. Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill House would feature the Red Wattle country-rib chop, called out by New York Times food critic Frank Bruni as one of the best bites of his career. The Fatted Calf produced a beloved all Red Wattle salami with black pepper and Spanish Pimenton. And Romy Drohan, chef and owner of Filipino restaurants Purple Yam and Cendrillon used the Wattle exclusively for his traditional holiday centerpieces, like the bone in skin on belly for leçhon — he was drawn to the Wattle, not knowing that its origins were close to his own! Other great chefs adored Red Wattle pork as well. Once again, this pig had found a place for itself in the food supply. A recent article by Saveur Magazine was titled, “Is the Red Wattle America’s Tastiest Pig?”
Over the years we have conducted many tastings trying to determine what Red Wattle tastes like. Remarkably the Wattle seems to have acquired a taste and flavor from each of the stops along its global journey. We have used the words charmingly inconsistent to describe it — always Wattle but never exactly the same each time. Its meat is always full of surprises! Farmers obviously have something to do with this since they select the traits that will be bred into the next generation. But, perhaps romantically, we believe the pig itself simply excels in flavor and in its ability to adapt to local traditions.
We have called Red Wattle pork sweet, nutty, floral, robust, concentrated, bold, melt in your mouth, and tender. We’ve also used words like porky, wild, more like a steak, murky, breezy, swampy, forest-ey, brackish, and bayou-ie, not exactly the best marketing words to describe the taste and flavor of pork but all are undercurrents to each bite — with no one taste ever going too far that it falls out of favor. In the end it’s just a superior pork chop.
For a livestock breed to make it in this world, it has to be eaten, and the Red Wattle has been eaten for thousands of years. It’s a polyglot, a product of many gastronomic languages. It’s a celebrity and a survivor. And we are thankful for it.
]]>For some, the answer lies in wanting to protect biodiversity. For others it’s a love of history or a desire to resist the consolidation of the industry that raises primarily a single breed at the expense of all others. But we are convinced that the answer lies in the particular taste and flavor that only Old Spots possess. The pork is the creamiest of any of the rare breeds. Old Spot pork is a sweet meat high in marbling, making it perfect for charcuterie production or for serving medium rare. It’s no surprise that chefs and charcutiers have driven the movement to expand the number of farms raising the Old Spot.
The Old Spot originated in the Berkeley Vale of Gloucestershire, England during the 1800s. Heritage Foods added the Old Spot to our offerings around 2012, about six years after we started our pork program that to date had featured only Berkshire and Red Wattle pigs. We ran to share the news with our English chefs like the great April Bloomfield who was just as excited as we were that now a second English breed would be readily available for her menu.
Now we are approaching our 12-year anniversary raising the Old Spots thanks to Craig and Amy Good of Good Farms in Oldsburg, Kansas and with Craig retiring, Dustin Torneden has taken over the herd and the genetics inherent to them.
The Old Spots are stubborn — their floppy ears hang over their face and keep them from seeing well — so they like to do things on their own time and are never in too much of a hurry. They are cautious pigs and just kind of mosey along. On the positive side, Old Spots love their piglets. They care for them well and produce a lot of milk.
We look forward to carrying on the tradition of the Old Spot pigs that have become part of our program and the menus of our chefs who desire the particular characteristics of the Old Spot to bring out the best of their work. Today, we are excited to offer a very limited supply of our favorite Old Spot cuts from Good Farms including boston butts, porterhouse pork chops, boneless maple sugar cured hams, and Signature bacon — or try a variety of cuts in our Old Spot Quarter Hog!
]]>"A whole ham, or even half, for a small group at Easter means endless leftovers. This year, Brooklyn-based Heritage Foods offers a delicious alternative: thick bone-in porterhouse pork chops, 12-to-14 ounces each and enough for two, cured with maple and lightly smoked just like the company’s hams. The heritage pork — Berkshire, antibiotic-free and raised on small farms — yields luscious well-marbled meat. The chops come fully cooked and need only to be seared. When you remove two chops from the pan, add a couple of minced shallots and sauté on medium, add the segments of a clementine, a generous dollop of honey mustard and a half cup of tangerine juice; stir, reduce a bit and you have your sauce."
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Frank Reese, the foremost poultry expert in the world and the maintainer of the last American Poultry Association certified hatchery in the States, has spent his career traveling the country rescuing rare flocks of turkeys and chickens for which no succession plan existed. If not for Frank’s work, many breeds would be extinguished from the face of the earth. Frank just turned 74, and until recently the same situation was at risk of happening to him and the birds that reside on his Good Shepherd Poultry Ranch in Lindsborg, Kansas.
Frank’s first mentee, Brian Anselmo, died tragically over a decade ago and it took Frank years to find someone else with the dedication and ability to carry on his work of preserving rare poultry breeds.
In 2012, Frank came across an aspiring young farmer, Jed Greenberg, who now, after hundreds of hours spent training by phone and in-person, seems destined to inherit the responsibility of preserving the breeds Frank has painstakingly maintained over decades. Jed has slowly learned the art of breeding and growing rare birds including selecting which birds' genetics should represent the next generation. He has learned how to meticulously hatch and grow the birds while protecting them from illness. Jed is also the Director of the Good Shepherd Conservancy whose mission is to find more new farms to raise various rare breeds including the Narragansett and Standard Bronze turkey and Barred Rock and Rhode Island White chickens. Jed also runs his own Chosen Farms which raises heritage chickens and turkeys in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including kosher birds.
]]>Doug was a great storyteller and connector of people. He had the foresight to introduce us to Paradise Locker Meats in 2005 which soon became the lead processor for heritage breeds in the nation.
Doug was always on top of trends and he ran a diversified farm that adapted to the moment. He was the holder of many secrets of agriculture and a master of successfully growing a great variety of foods on his sprawling 1500 acre farm. Doug believed using chemicals in farming was not necessary and said that good farmers should be able to find ways around needing to use them.
As a pig supplier for Heritage Foods, Doug extended us the credit we needed to start our business. We would not exist as a company if it were not for Doug.
Douglas K. Metzger, 84, of Oneida, Kansas passed away at the Sabetha Manor in Sabetha, Kansas.
Douglas was born on August 25, 1938, the son of Wilhelm and Julia (Meyer) Metzger at their farmhouse west of Oneida, Kansas. Douglas was the oldest of three children. Douglas attended grade school in Oneida. He attended high school in Sabetha and was a very involved student. He graduated from Sabetha High School in 1956.
Douglas was united in marriage to his high school sweetheart, Betty Locher, on September 30, 1956. Douglas and Betty were blessed with four children and shared 66 years together. Douglas was a lifelong farmer who raised diverse livestock and crops with his family. Douglas enjoyed traveling with Betty and meeting new people everywhere they went. Douglas and Betty became members of the Sabetha Apostolic Christian Church in 1986.
Douglas was preceded in death by his parents and his son, Darryl Metzger at birth.
Douglas is survived by his wife, Betty; his sons, Mark Metzger and Steven (Liz) Metzger; his daughter, Marilyn (Stanley) Wiegand; his three grandchildren, Naomi (Kyle) Stillwell, Joel Wiegand, and Simon Wiegand; and his sisters, Willa (James) Steiner and Marge Metzger.
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For 25 years we have known Romy and Amy Besa, the team behind Purple Yam, a Filipino restaurant in Brooklyn. We first met when Patrick was working at Slow Food in Italy around 1998. Amy called him and asked if she could help launch the movement in the U.S. Amy is always working to improve the culture of gastronomy around the world.
At the time she and Romy owned Cendrillon a spacious (1,750 square feet in area) restaurant in SOHO which served so many interesting guests including professors from the New York University campus next door. For so many New Yorkers Cendrillon was their first taste of food prepared in the style of this region of the world! And for so many young Filipino chefs today, Cendrillon opened the door for them to cook today. Amy and Romy really started something on these shores that had not existed before.
After Cendrillon closed we kept in touch. And thankfully they reopened as the Purple Yam on Cortelyou Road in 2009. The restaurant is a must visit to taste the simply prepared flavors of the Philippines in an easy going setting.
Amy and Romy came to the States in the 1970s. They met and married in 1981, and opened Cendrillon in 1995. Romy was the chef and Amy ran the front of house with her warm presence and infectious laugh. Amy always has a project she is working on and her energy is contagious. One important cause for Amy is bringing food education to people in the Philippines. The couple went on to publish the award-winning Memories of Philippine Kitchens in 2006.
Besa explained in a recent interview by Nana Ozaeta:
"For me, the Filipino food movement started the moment Filipinos set foot in this country and started cooking for themselves. We are just part of that line. And there’s no such thing as we started this or someone started it. What we did was we put in our own interpretation."
There are chefs everywhere, and some are special. On a quiet road in Brooklyn, Romy is still operating and turning out great dishes, humbly. Try everything but especially their pulled pork in steamed buns, chicken adobo, Lumpia, dumplings, Pancit Bihon Noodles, Chicken Thigh Sugba, Oxtail Kare Kare with Bagoong, and Goat Curry!
]]>When we dine out, we love eating small plates and having choices on what to eat! Huertas is a perfect place to eat in this way. In fact, we love Huertas so much we have included a recent menu below, hoping to entice you to go there! Worst case, you can try this pork belly recipe at home!
Huertas serves up Spanish fare, evoking the lively eating and drinking culture of Spain mixed with the creativity of NYC’s dining scene. They offer a rotating assortment of Pintxos (small bites) and larger, seasonally revolving Raciones, accompanied by classic Spanish beverages, such as Refrescos (wine or beer coolers), house made vermouth, and a long list of Spanish wine, sherry & cider. They aim to honor and highlight the more authentic of Spanish dishes/beverages while adding our own NYC twists here and there!
Huertas has approximately 80 seats, indoors and out, with an energetic, inviting bar area and a back dining room which doubles as a private dining space. An open kitchen adds energy to the space and allows guests a glimpse at the theater that is professional cooking.
A sample menu from a recent night is included here!
PINTXOS/Basque Bites
‘Gilda’ | Boquerones, Olives, Pickled Pepper
Croqueta | ...of the day
Snap Pea Toast | Ricotta, Lemon Zest
Foie Gras | Rhubarb, Toast
Aceitunas | House Olives, Pickles
Bikini | Pressed Jamón & Mahón Sandwich
Basque Dog | Chistorra Sausage, Piquillo Mostarda, Aioli
CONSERVAS/Tinned Fish with Accompaniments
Boquerones | Nassari
Anchoas | Olasagasti
Cured Sardines | Kiele
Mackerel in Oil | Cabo de Peñas
Grilled Mussels | Güeyu Mar
Cuttlefish in Ink | Alálunga
Barnacles in Brine | Conservas de Cambados
Gran Selección | Boquerones, Anchoas & 2 Special Tins
RACIONES/Shared Plates
Los Cameros Cheese | Tomato Conserva, Olives
Jamón Serrano | 16-Month Spanish Ham, Marcona Almonds
Jamón Iberico | 36-Month Iberico Ham
Ensalada | Snap Peas, Preserved Lemon, Idiazabal
Shishitos | Blistered Peppers, Lemon, Maldon Salt
Patatas Bravas | Fried Potatoes, Spice Mix, Aioli
Tortilla Española | Spanish Potato Omelet
Roasted Mushrooms | Smoked Garlic, Parsley (Egg Yolk +2)
Market Asparagus | Pine Nut Picada
Gambas al Ajillo | Shrimp, Corn, Cherry Tomatoes, Chili Crisp
Pulpo | Charred Octopus, Potatoes, Pimentón
Chicken Escabeche | Marinated Vegetables, Picked Pepper Sauce
Saffron Fried Rice | Shrimp, Bacon, Pea Leaves, Peas, Egg, Aioli
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Joe first started working in kitchens during high school and college, but it was a trip to Rome during his freshman year that solidified his professional culinary ambitions. After graduating from Fordham University in 2010 with a degree in accounting and finance, Joe joined the kitchen team at Maialino in the Gramercy Park Hotel as a pastry cook. Eventually transitioning from pastry to savory, those early years at Maialino afforded Joe an appreciation for rustic cooking focused on quality ingredients executed at the highest level.
In 2013, Joe left Maialino to open American Cut with Chef Marc Forgione. The following year, he joined the opening team at All’onda in Greenwich Village, where he further honed his Italian cooking fundamentals.
Joe returned to his Maialino roots in 2016, rising from Sous Chef to Chef de Cuisine, working alongside one of his long-time mentors Chef Jason Pfeifer to lead the award-winning back-of-house team. During the pandemic, Joe remained in the Union Square Hospitality Group family, joining Chef Lena Ciardullo and Union Square Cafe kitchen as Chef de Cuisine. In 2022, Joe reopened Maialino (vicino) as Executive Chef.
]]>BBQ does not need to use exclusively the cheapest meat available. As with all cooking styles, heritage breeds make every dish better. Fette Sau was one of the first BBQ joints in the US to feature exclusively heritage breeds on their menu. Before each service, the team at the restaurant would chalk the daily specials on the board with the cut listed first and the breed/farm right after. For nearly 20 years they have featured Berkshire, Red Wattle, Tamworth, and Duroc Boston Butt, Belly, Bacon Ends, and Ribs and have been an anchor to Heritage Foods!
We love walking into Fette early, before the lines start to form, and saddling up to the counter where you pick your meat and sides. The server weighs each choice, adds Martin’s rolls, and you’re ready to go. Through the years we have called the team each Tuesday for their order to be delivered the following week! During Covid, Fette was a key account to moving product for us and for the farmers we work with.
Allie Klein is a great pitmaster from upstate NY who is slinging perfectly cooked meats to thousands of Brooklyn visitors each week! Joe Carroll the founder is an industry trendsetter. His other restaurant St. Anselm (across the street from Fette and also in DC in partnership with the Starr group) is considered a great steakhouse, one of the best in the City. His Spuyten Duyvil next door has been at the epicenter of the craft beer scene for nearly 20 years. While still boasting one of the more original draught, canned and bottled beer lists in town, they have now found themselves immersed in the expansive world of amaro and vermouth.
Fette Sau is a great place to eat great meat. Bring a group, kids are welcome too! And the whisky selection is vast so be prepared to stay awhile!
If he lives for bacon and wants to learn more about where his food comes from, this food gift will make him happy on a monthly basis. The pork comes from heritage breeds, those of which can trace their lineage many generations back and are valued for their excellent, nuanced flavors. The farmers who work with heritage breeds pledge to raise them humanely; they are also never given growth hormones or antibiotics. Each box comes with about three pounds of bacon, plus details about the history of both the breed and farm it came from."
Shop our full selection of bacon here and our Bacon of the Month Club here.
]]>Heritage Foods was brought into the Luke's Local family by Chef Nicolette Manescalchi, a longtime chef friend who we had the pleasure of getting to know as she rose from Sous Chef to Executive Chef at San Francisco's A16 Restaurant. Thank you Nicolette!
]]>Hacienda Queiles has been making olive oil in Navarra, Spain, in the middle of the Queiles River Valley for 25 years. The Spanish Association of Olive Municipalities (AEMO) awarded Hacienda Queiles The Best Mill Of Spain.
Our olive oils are not like those countless brands sold in retail stores and on other websites.
Our oils are exclusively sourced from Steve Jenkins' Olive Oil Jones. Steve imports huge barrels of living, breathing, geographically specific olive oils that are fresh, exuberant and billowing with fragrance and flavor. All of their olive oils are unfiltered and strictly EARLY-HARVEST olive oils, derived from olives that were green, and gently harvested then mulched and centrifuged within hours of their harvest. Our customers can immediately smell and taste the difference.
Our newest oil, Hacienda Queiles, is a monocultivar made from 100% arroniz olives, a local variety from Navarra, Spain. The olive oil from Hacienda Queiles is certified organic. The taste ripples with ripe fruit, a sweetness and a huge elegant boldness. This is a big and lovely oil.
Hacienda Queiles has been making olive oil in Navarra, Spain, in the middle of the Queiles River Valley for 25 years. The Spanish Association of Olive Municipalities (AEMO) awarded Hacienda Queiles The Best Mill Of Spain.
The Queiles Valley has been known since time immemorial for producing grains, wines and olive oil. Hacienda Queiles (pronounced kay-EE-lace) is uniquely located between the snows of Moncayo and the arid desert of the biosphere reserve called the Bardenas Reales. This is a land of extreme temperatures and rocky soil, with little capacity for water retention. It gives the fruit of the olive trees a distinct personality. Throughout history from the Romans and the Arabs, the olive has always been linked to the 3 Cistercian Abbeys from the 12th and 13th centuries.
Hacienda Queiles has their state-of-the-art mill located within their groves, which occupy about 60 hectares (over 148 acres) of mainly Arbequina and Arroniz olive trees. The early harvest olives are milled right there, keeping them in perfect condition. The Hacienda has a philosophy of “Pago de Olivar”; having full control of the whole process from the tree to the harvest to the mill.
99% of all olive oil consumers in the world know nothing but ‘sweet’ olive oil. Unless an olive oil has that early-harvest spiciness and a slight bitterness, it is an oil that cannot provide the immense flavor boost, cannot amplify flavors in the ingredients it has been combined with, to be cooked or dressed with. That’s the truth. Olive oils from ripe olives do nothing for food except make it smell like olives. It lies upon food like a side of lox, serving merely to grease things up.
Add to that the fact that late-harvest olive oils from ripe olives have none of the immense health benefits for which olive oil is given so much adulation, credit, validation and study; the polyphenols are gone.
We are proud to introduce our newest and rarest olive oil variety: Hacienda Queiles from Navarra, Spain and we were thrilled to have Steve Jenkins (Olive Oil Jones) and Chef Jonah Miller (Huertas) in our warehouse studio to taste it!
Watch them taste, smell, and respond to Hacienda Queiles' oil made from 100% early harvest arroniz olives, a local variety from Navarra, Spain rarely seen as a monocultivar.
This special olive oil from Hacienda Queiles is certified organic. The taste ripples with ripe fruit and a sweetness and a huge elegant boldness. And who better to taste this big and lovely oil with Steve than Jonah Miller, the chef and owner of Huertas, a New York City restaurant focused on Spanish small plates and pintxos.
Hacienda Queiles has been making olive oil in Navarra, Spain, in the middle of the Queiles River Valley for 25 years. The Spanish Association of Olive Municipalities (AEMO) awarded Hacienda Queiles The Best Mill Of Spain.
More about Chef Jonah Miller:
Growing up in New York, Jonah was drawn to food at a young age and began his career as a fourteen-year-old summer intern in the kitchen of the legendary restaurant, Chanterelle. Jonah attended NYU, majoring in Food Studies and Restaurant Management and continued to cook in places such as Gramercy Tavern and Savoy. While in college, he studied abroad in Madrid, living on the iconic Calle de las Huertas and eating up everything Spain had to offer. After three impactful years in the kitchen at Danny Meyer’s Maialino, ready to strike out on his own, he traveled back to Spain to put the finishing touches on his vision for Huertas. Huertas opened in 2014 and received 2-stars from the New York Times. Jonah has been named to Forbes 30under30, was a James Beard Semi-Finalist and is the subject of the book Generation Chef. His first cookbook, The New Spanish,was released in June 2018.
We are proud to support many younger farmers including Jed Greenberg who in his 30s is taking on the monumental task of becoming the protégé of famed farmer Frank Reese, the Godfather of American poultry. Jed now raises guineas and chickens from Frank's breeding stock on his New Jersey farm! His heritage chickens are available for delivery FRESH the week of June 5th, 2023.
For Greenberg, the chickens reignite a century-old movement of kosher chickens being raised in New Jersey, where his great-great grandfather moved in the late 1800s to start a farm after immigrating to the U.S. from Lithuania. Southern New Jersey had long been a landing spot for Jewish immigrants starting with Russians in the 1880s. Escapees from Germany arrived in the 1930s and 1940s. After World War II, many immigrants, known as Grine, a play on the Yiddish word for greenhorns, found opportunity on local poultry farms.
“What Frank found with me is that I was someone totally committed to the same kind of mission that he was, preserving heritage breeds,” said Jed, who met Frank about a decade ago. “He’s got the grandparents stock, and now what he is able to do is focus a lot more on improving quality and not on production.”
Jed's heritage breed chickens are available for purchase here.
]]>Rolo’s is the very definition of a great neighborhood restaurant.
Rolo’s is located on a quiet block in Ridgewood, a neighborhood that sits on the border of Brooklyn and Queens. The restaurant is surrounded by large bay windows that are perfectly integrated into the space and this beautiful building has been landmarked by the City of New York.
At Rolo’s you can order an array of delicious focaccia varieties and sandwiches for lunch from the sprawling counter. We love the muffuletta in particular which features our very own Boston butts, seasoned and cooked in house to make their signature mortadella. During the day you can sit anywhere in the restaurant when you get your food!
At dinner you sit for traditional table service and can dine on an array of pastas, salads, and vegetables. Their speciality is sustainably raised meats, many aged in house, that are cooked in their massive grill/smoker, a hulking machine billowing out smoke and fire, that was originally designed by chef Tom Colicchio. We love the heritage pork chops of course but their in house dry aged steaks are spectacular too.
We have known the team behind Rolo’s for over 10 years. We were lucky to go on a recent tour of Rolo’s with Howard Kalachnikoff who we first met during his tenure as a chef at Gramercy Tavern. We were so proud of how far Howard and his team have come as we toured his state of the art facility that he designed with his partners including chef Rafiq Salim.
Every part of Rolo’s is beautiful and attention has been given to every detail. The dishwashing station was put on the ground floor next to the open kitchen, giving that station more dignity next to their colleagues on the line. The workspaces downstairs are spacious, well lit and designed in a way to make it easy to work in. Even the shelves where dry goods are stored are designed to look like a fancy grocery store, making picking from them easier and more civilized.
The aging chambers are a site to see, with steaks aging 5 weeks, the ideal time for texture and flavor according to the head butcher and sous chef Joe Paish. We were especially happy to witness the making of their delicious mortadella, step by step, including the separation of our famous Boston butts into lean and fatty sections, then ground, then spiced, then stuffed into a large casing before cooking. Rolo’s is a place where the kitchens are as lovely as the actual restaurant!
As more and more chefs come into the world — more than ever in history — we wish upon every neighborhood to witness the opening of places like this.
Long may Rolo’s be on a roll!
Learn how to truss and roast a whole heritage chicken! Standardbred chickens are slow-growing and pasture raised to 16 weeks, more than double the industry standard. Each chicken is laced with ribbons of sun-yellow fat that self-baste the bird as it renders, resulting in silky meat and crackly bronzed skin.
Whole Heritage Chickens are now available Fresh for preorder to ship for delivery the week of June 5th, 2023. This is a groundbreaking development for the heritage meat movement and the cause of biodiversity in food because our collaboration works towards preserving (and eating!) poultry that are on the brink of extinction.
Kansas-based heritage farmer Frank Reese, who has made it his life’s work to preserve endangered breeds of poultry, has worked for years to maintain stronger lines of chickens. Reese has partnered with his first-ever protégé, Jed Greenberg of Chosen Farms, to raise and process heritage chickens in New Jersey.
Westfield, Vermont, Lazy Lady Farm
It was an honor to visit Laini Fondiller at Lazy Lady Farm, a farmstead dairy located in the northern reaches of Vermont.
Lazy Lady is the northernmost farm that we visited on a recent northeast farm tour — you can see the lights of Montreal from the top of her hill. The farm is solar and wind powered. There is no cell service. Essentially, it is totally off the grid. Laini is a pioneer in artisan cheese making, having started in 1987, well before the word artisanal was ever used in reference to food.
Laini is happy to see us. She's moving quickly. Her Airedale terrier keeps up and follows all the proceedings. Laini first takes us to see the barn that houses big beautiful and strong Alpine goats, all of whom come to the fence to say hello. The goats are definitely part of the family here. She takes us to her modest cheesemaking house, which has a small steam kettle pasteurizer and cheese vat that she built many years ago. Then we are off to the side of a hill which has a door built into it — Laini knocks on it twice at two different spots, the secret to cracking it open — so that she can walk into an underground cave filled with tiny wheels of cheese. We peek in and see over a dozen varieties. She returns with three samples: two goats (Seedy Goat, Fool’s Gold) and a cow’s milk cheese she produces in the goat off season that is aptly called Snow'd In.
Laini is charming, no nonsense and charismatic. Even the youngest amongst us are fascinated by Laini and hang onto every word she says. Her cheeses are renowned and respected by all other artisan cheesemakers in the region. She is also a master at breeding healthy goats, genetics she shares with other local farmers.
We were allowed on the farm thanks to the late Anne Saxelby, the famous NY cheesemonger, who started out 20 years ago determined to run a successful shop that only sells domestic artisan cheese. Back in the day, there wasn’t much artisan cheese around, but there was a lot of it at Lazy Lady Farm. Laini was a hero to Anne and they talked each and every week for decades to place orders — even when Anne was on vacation. Laini is the O.G. of O.G.s and so much followed her lead — from the artisan cheese movement to advice that led to the creation of Saxelby Cheesemongers and so much more.
In Anne’s own words…
Laini Fondiller has been making cheese at Lazy Lady Farm since 1987. A true pioneer, Laini began making goat cheese in the dark ages of artisan cheese making in the United States. There were no resources, no books, no equipment, no supplies, no anything to be had to help a young cheesemaker. But the things that Laini did have (and in no short supply) were gumption, tenacity, a love of goats, and a work ethic to beat all else. Together with her partner Barry, Laini built a small steam kettle pasteurizer and cheese vat and went to town. Today, she produces over 20 varieties of goat and cows' milk cheese on her remote, off-the-grid, solar and wind powered farm. Laini milks a small herd of goats — roughly 30 to 40 — from March through January, and sources cows' milk from neighboring Butterworks Farm when her goats are pregnant and 'on unemployment' during the winter months.
Laini's love of her goats is what sets her apart from other farmers. All farmers have a fondness for their animals, but to Laini, they're family. She knows all the best breeders in the country and seeks out the best genetic lines to introduce to her closed herd. The goats are the Lazy ones on the farm according to Laini, and she's absolutely right. While her goats luxuriate in lush pastures or listen to Vermont Public Radio in the barn, Laini flies about like a whirling dervish, doing chores, making cheese, aging it, packaging it up for farmers markets, and then selling it herself at those same markets. Laini Fondiller and Lazy Lady Farm are American cheesemaking icons.
Greensboro, Vermont, Jasper Hill Farm
Jasper Hill is the biggest of the artisan dairies we visited. They make an array of their own cheeses, but also age cheese for other dairies. The dairy has over 100 employees buzzing about making cheese at the new creamery which now features beautiful copper equipment imported from France. Their caves hold wheels upon wheels of cheese in high-ceilinged rooms carved into the hills on the farm. They make their own rennet, raise goats and cows (sheep are coming in the near future) and often attend numerous food events nationally to promote the cause of artisan dairies and the importance of preserving raw milk cheese culture! We consistently feature their cheeses at Heritage Foods and are big fans of their entrepreneur spirit.
Back in the early days, founders Andy Kehler milked the cows and his brother Mateo Kehler made the cheese. Their wives Victoria and Angie helped out to do much of the rest — from aging cheese to wrapping it for sale to keeping the books.
In 2003, Jasper Hill’s first batches of cheese were ready to take to market, and they were met with instant success. In the beginning, all of the cheeses were aged in a cellar located beneath the original creamery. But after their collaboration with Cabot Creamery, Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, took home 'Best in Show' accolades at the 2006 American Cheese Society conference, the Kehlers decided to build the Cellars at Jasper Hill to age their own cheeses as well as cheeses from other farms. The Cellars at Jasper Hill is the largest cheese aging facility in the United States.
The farm is a compound of positive and creative energy. Year-in-and-year-out we enjoy making the pilgrimage to Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom to visit our friends, tour the country’s largest underground cheese caves, cross-country ski, dine at the famous Parker Pie pizza joint, and to collaborate. As Jasper Hill has expanded rapidly, they retain practices that have made it an artisan dairy, standards, ensuring it continues to be boutique and, in turn, continue to raise the bar for American cheeses on the global stage.
Shelburne, Vermont, Shelburne Farms
We met Tom Perry, a director of cheese sales for Shelburne Farms, through Mary Tuthill of Mad River Taste Place. Tom kindly invited us for a tour and took us around the 1,400-acre farm. Heritage Foods had sold Shelburne aged cheddars for years, so it was fun to stop in and say hello!
In addition, we had real history with Shelburne even before we started buying cheddar around the time Slow Food USA had its second-ever Governor’s Convention in one of their spectacular expansive barns around 2003, a seminal meeting for the movement and one in which then-presidential candidate Howard Dean stopped by to make a speech!
Shelburne Farms is cutting edge and old school all at once! From 1886 to 1902, William Seward and Lila Vanderbilt Webb consolidated 32 farms into a 3,800-acre agricultural estate. Its landscape design was inspired by Central Park architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Fast forward to today, and the property is somewhat smaller but unbelievably dynamic, producing some of the country’s best cheeses while also educating the public in various ways on sustainable practices.
We parked next to the lovely Shelburne Farms shop and rode a farm vehicle with Tom to various sites including the creamery. We visited the insides of the cheesemaking facility where the daily milk is taken in a building so majestic and sprawling it feels more like a castle! We have always loved their cheddars, aged to various ages, which anchors a robust mail order business for the community here.
We rode to the cow barn, played with baby cows, toured maple syrup groves, and admired the huge wood and stone event spaces across the property. Along the way, we witnessed happy visitors and tour groups walking the grounds and using the space as a jogging route. The farm is busy as family, youth and adult educational programs of all types happen throughout the day. Shelburne Farms takes education seriously and even offers a membership option for locals.
It is amazing to see modern generations turn opportunities into gifts for the next generation with ambitious projects that inspire and keep culture alive — and we’re not just talking cheese here!
We were also happy to discover our host Tom is one of the minds behind the Daphne Zepos Foundation, which provides scholarships to individuals wanting to research cheese. The spirit of the foundation is similar to that of the Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund, sponsoring work in agriculture. It was nice to make that connection, especially because Daphne and Anne were very close.
Waitsfield, Vermont, Von Trapp Farmstead and Ploughate Creamery
Terroir is land communicating with food. Têtoir reflects people and culture. It is, in part, the accumulated skill sets of creative people, but also the power of a locus, for whatever reason, to attract and breed artisans and artists. Têtoir is a word we made up, from the word tête, which is French for head. Têtoir is similar to terroir — what terroir is to the earth, têtoir is to the mind. Waitsfield, Vermont, nestled in the beautiful Mad River Valley, is high in artisan cheese and dairy têtoir.
Marisa Mauro is the inventor of Ploughgate Butter, which is now pretty much a household name among lovers of food and good ingredients. Before making butter, Marisa invented and produced different artisan cheeses, a few of which are still sold today. We have fond memories of her early visits to Brooklyn, almost a decade ago, while she was looking to fill a need in the artisan dairy industry of the Northeast. She came and talked with the great cheesemonger, Anne Saxelby, and together they incubated the idea of a quality artisan butter which was hard to find at the time.
Marisa grew up on Vermont farms. In her twenties she won a land grant competition to own the farm she does today, which she says is one of the most photographed barns in the state. Her house has views of distant mountains, and Marisa boasts an expansive vision to match it. Marisa is well connected in her industry. Always an entrepreneur, even on this trip she was formulating ideas for her next project including expanding her husband Sterling’s seasonal pheasant business.
One of Marisa’s best friends in cheese is Molly Jennings of the von Trapp fame, the storied family who moved from Austria to Vermont during World War II. Funny sidenote, earlier that day, before we met, the family had seen a school play about themselves! When the von Trapps were originally looking for a spot to settle years ago, they fell in love with the peaceful and idyllic mountains surrounding the Vermont farm they live on today as it reminded the family of their native Austria. The farm was always a dairy, but in 2009, the third generation Sebastian von Trapp, began making delicious cheese from their certified organic cow's milk. The von Trapp family is committed to making incredible cheese and also to environmental stewardship.
The von Trapps have a lovely tiny store at the top of a hill on a dirt road with cows, pigs, and sheep next to the parking lot. The shop sells wool hats and tote bags, cookies, bread, and of course maple syrup, which every shop in Vermont advertises and sells. They also have a butcher shop featuring their own lamb and pork, and best of all, they sell the famous cheeses produced on their farm as well! Mad River Blue for example has a smooth and buttery texture with bright blue-green veins. It offers a mild blue bite and complex flavors of anise, cocoa, dried fruits and minerals with a deep umami backbone.
A large family, the von Trapps are sadly losing a direct connection to their storied past. The original American pioneers are aging. Their hotel in Stowe, their many acres of farmland, and their farmstead dairy are now run by the generations that came after. As a farmstead dairy, the family works very hard. They joke about how crazy it is to raise the animals and make cheese too. Most other dairies bring in milk from the outside.
Together, Marisa and Molly co-host Anne Saxelby Legacy Fund apprentices, along with Mary Tuthill, who in this closely connected web of artisans in the state of Vermont, is partnered with Tom Perry, who does sales for Shelburne Farms. (More about Shelburne later.)
Mary runs Mad River Taste Place, a store that specializes in beer, wine, meats, and cheese from the region. Vermont is famous for lack of fast food and national chains, and has many small mom and pop shops throughout the state. This is one of the most special.
Talking with Mary, we asked when charcuterie would appear on her menu, and she answered in a lovely Vermont way: only when her partner farms are ready, not before. Mad River Taste Place expands slowly, according to the pace of its extended team!
Goshen, Vermont, Ice House Farm
Even though we are not supposed to admit it, it’s okay to have a favorite! Ice House Farm, a tiny property in Goshen, was our favorite spot on our farm tour. Driving up to it, you feel as if you are going through a time wrap, back to the Middle Ages maybe, or even before to a world shrouded in the mystery of legend and myth.
Approaching the farm, one is greeted by two shepherd dogs and four very rare Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs. Farmers Chad and Morgan are there, too! You walk through their lovely house and just beyond the kitchen and the life and charisma of the farm begins.
Small pens on their plot are populated with goats. They obtained some of their goat stock from neighboring Lazy Lady Farm — more on them later. One pen is for new babies, as our April tour coincided with the birthing season.
The milk the mothers produce is harvested to make the most delicious spreadable chevre, which we saw hanging from bags in the cheesemaking room. The cheese is perfect for spreading on bread, on a cracker, or even just by the spoonful. Our favorite was the herbed and spiced version which leaves a perfectly salty delicious aftertaste that satiates and leaves you wanting more. Everyone should have some of this cheese in their fridge.
Each goat pen has its own child safety locks — goats are masters of escape! In the back of the tiny farm is a modern hoop barn, the base of which is surrounded with a strong wood that cannot be eaten through by the goats. Goats will chew through anything!
Ice House is a perfect sized farm. It sustains a family. It’s busy and teeming with life. Chad and Morgan focus on one product in particular — fresh chevre. Gummy cream cheese, industrial butter, and even the beloved hummus producing chickpea should look over their shoulders — Ice House produces a superior goaty spreadable cheese! Leaving the farm, we wished a million other farms would pop up around the nation just like it.
Reading, Vermont, Spring Brook Farm
Spring Brook is a place dedicated to education as much as it is to making cheese. They do a great job at both. Farms for City Kids Foundation is a non-profit outdoor agrarian classroom for schoolchildren from urban backgrounds. Starting in 1994, the 1,000-acre farm hosts five-day immersive experiences where students learn about the biology, chemistry, nutrition, labor, and daily rhythms of farm life.
Cheese sales support the farm operations as well as the youth program, anchored by Tarentaise, Reading, and Ashbrook, foundational cheeses in the artisan community of Vermont.
Depending on the season, the flavor profile on Tarentaise can range from bright red berries and floral undertones to nutty, browned butter to wonderfully savory and brothy.
Tarentaise Reserve follows the same make process as Tarentaise, but is allowed to age for a minimum of 12 months to produce a cheese that is even more complex in flavor.
Reading is a wash-rind cheese and aged an average of three months. It offers a unique, creamy texture balanced by nutty, grassy undertones. It matures into a versatile semi-soft cheese ideally suited to melting, but it exhibits a subtle, yet complex flavor profile that allows it to stand alone on any cheese plate.
As with Reading, this cheese is made from the fresh raw Jersey cow milk from Spring Brook Farm and their two partner dairies. Ashbrook exhibits a distinctive layer of vegetal ash running through the center of the paste. It is a semi-soft, washed-rind cheese that is aged for approximately three months. Ashbrook has savory aromas on the rind that give way to a mushroomy, sour cream-like flavors.
Dogs, cows, friendly cheesemakers, city students and delicious cheese make Spring Brook a must visit site for those touring landmarks in the dairy industry!
West Pawlet, Vermont, Consider Bardwell Farm and Levy Grassfed Lamb and Sheepskins
Consider Bardwell Farm is owned and operated by Angela Miller. A mainstay of the Vermont cheese scene for years, her farm produces Pawlet, Rupert, and Dorset Hidden Star. The Reserve versions of these cheese have won many awards. Now that the farm produces less cheese and focuses on aging, Consider Bardwell has partnered with Mara Hearst and Levy Lamb by leasing property to them.
The Levy flock is shepherded to new paddocks on a daily basis, with the use of electro netting, solar chargers, and two fabulous guard donkeys. The lambs are raised primarily for grass fed meat, sold locally through direct retail and wholesale markets. Additionally, the tanned lambskins are available seasonally. As Mara writes, “We believe strongly in grazing animals in a way that improves soil and pastures, and protects waterways, and we are constantly working to improve our management systems so that we can be better stewards of the land that we farm.”
"We are always seeking hormone-free, well exercised, good-tasting meat. (We like some of our local suppliers, too - gotta support one's community). As former small business owners, we respect and try to support small operations whenever possible. That you ship is SO great. We are thankful we found you! Food gifts are my favorite (to give and receive). Who wouldn't love a coupla chops or two? And honestly, I love your 'loyalty gifts'" — Cara
]]>Heritage breeds are the very foundation of our agricultural history and gastronomic identity. Each breed comes from a unique culinary tradition, with its own pure genetic line, and boasts a different, nuanced flavor. A true heritage breed can be traced back prior to the advent of industrial farming, meaning that they are directly connected to the beginnings of settled agriculture. Industrial breeds, the mainstay of the fast food and supermarket industries, were developed through years of cynical genetic selection and artificial insemination.
While we often hear from customers who love the unparalleled quality of our product, we are particularly touched when our mission resonates with them.
"Thank you so much and for all you do to keep these breeds in existence." — Carol
]]>"Really, you might consider an online, publicly visible rating system. Why, you may ask? Because my last order included bone-in pork loin. I followed the direction card you included in my order. The vagaries of charcoal grilling being what they are, the loin I cooked on my Weber Kettle was done slightly early but it was perfect! Five Stars!"
]]>"Oh goodness, you have no idea how much we drooled over the shank offerings!! Couldn't be more excited to have these babies in the freezer and do the 'shank a month' thing!! We love a good shank!! I shop heritage meat because in addition to believing you are what you eat, you are also what you eat eats. I value pasture raised and finished and we have found the heritage breeds to have a superior flavor!"
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I was born on 10/1/1984 in Manila, Philippines to Rowena and Delfin III (Im the IV). I am the oldest of 3 brothers.
My family including my grandma on my dad's side (Lola Nene) moved to southern California in 1991. Half of the year my grandma (Lola Ine) on my mom's side would live with us.
Lola Ine was a major inspiration to my curiosity in cooking. She was a woman of few words but her food spoke volumes for her love for our family. When I was able to start driving, I was in charge of taking her to the grocery store. I was always fascinated with how much food she can buy with $100 and feed a family of 5 for a week and still have enough left over to always play some lottery tickets and scratch offs! I'd watch her pick produce, communicate (somehow) with the butchers because she didn't speak much english.
I've always felt that I was the type of person to excel in things I had a vested interest in but for some reason lacked the self motivation to commit to a direction. I did really well in school up until I left for college and was unleashed by dorming away from home. As the first child of immigrant parents, I was raised with very strict rules so I guess it was only a matter of time until I fully rebelled.
Long story short, I gave almost 0 effort into my first year of college and quickly found myself ineligible to return and moved back home. Filled with guilt and shame I moved back home and bounced around almost every single community college within a 20 mile radius — I could not stick with school and realized that it was not my path.
I made a snap call to get the ball rolling on making a move to New York, a city I was completely enamored with from my very first visit. My close friends and I used to take short trips out to New York just to explore and eat our way through restaurants, and I fell in love with the diversity, density, and accessibility of the big city.
So with $500 and a transfer with Starbucks as a supervisor I made the leap in February 2012 and I remember thinking to myself that this would be the hardest year of my life and if I managed to survive the city for a year, i'd call it a success.
My initial plan was to find a culinary school to enroll in while I worked, but I was quickly talked out of it by the first chef that hired me (Scott Tacinelli of Don Angie/Quality Italian). He said that he did not regret going to culinary school but that it was definitely not necessary and that I would set myself back quite a bit trying to pay loans off while making $12/hr as an entry level cook.
So I started as a salad/cold apps cook at Quality Meats (Michael Stillman/Chef Craig Koketsu). I completely committed my life to taking every day as an opportunity to learn as much as possible, push myself, and be better than the day before.
I was offered an opportunity to be a part of the opening team for Quality Italian in 2013. QI was a hit right from the start and I pushed to learn every station and make my way to Sous Chef as soon as possible. I was promoted to that position later that year, to Executive Sous Chef in 2015, and then Chef de Cuisine in 2016. I was then offered to open Quality Eats in NYC’s upper east side in 2017 and then Quality Eats in NoMad 6 months later.
That year was the hardest year of my life and I found myself completely burnt out from the back to back openings and I decided to take a step back and do some self reflection and soul searching because I had fallen out of love. I took a chef de cuisine position at a much smaller bar/restaurant called Fedora (Gabe Stullman/Chef Jin Kang) in October 2018 and fell back in love with my craft. High volume fine dining was definitely exciting and a great learning experience, but I was able to slow down and focus on food and creating at Fedora which was so rewarding. I had the freedom to run daily specials (as many as I wanted!) and had equal input in changing the menu seasonally.
When the pandemic hit, I was laid off just like most of the workforce in our industry. I took that opportunity to rest and start up a cooking class on Zoom, where I would send participants a shopping list and a recipe at the beginning of the week. Then, we’d all sign on Sunday evenings and cook the recipe together. It was a lot of fun and a way to quell my busy chef mind while the city was shutdown.
I love cooking because I love to eat! I love the connection to community, family, and love that really great food brings with it. Being a chef is also very rewarding to me because of the relationships you develop in this industry. The diverse range of characters you meet and spend time with every day, their stories, and the fact that as a chef, you somehow lead an entire team to the singular goal of delivering an experience to eager guests makes it all worthwhile.
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