FIPS Was There: Meat The Butcher Dinner

Park Slope's favorite butcher shop, Fleisher's, teamed up with Ditmas Park's favorite restaurant, The Farm on Adderley, to present a special Butcher's Dinner, with five meat-tastic courses of delicious and responsible delicious responsibility.  And FIPS was there!

I've been to other special dinners at The Farm, and I'm here to tell you--they're well worth the trip out of the Slope. The format is casual: good eatin'. And speaking of, well, uh...good eatin,' Joshua Applestone might have the name of a Revolutionary War veteran, but he's actually a former vegan-turned-butcher. He heads up Fleisher's Grass Fed and Organic Meats, and he was on-hand to walk us through the ins-and-outs of responsible meat-eating.

I was about two drinks into the evening when the talking started, and I didn't take notes, so I'm not going to bother giving you a whole recitation of what the difference is between 'grass fed,' 'organic,' 'all-natural,' and 'pasture-raised.'  Suffice it to say that there's this whole "labeling game" going on, and if you're really hung up on the label, Joshua Applestone thinks that you're probably paying attention to the wrong things. Bottom-line take away: "pasture-raised" should be your benchmark, but feel free to be annoying and ask lots of pointed questions about your meat to any waiter, butcher or food purveyor you might encounter in your day-to-day life.

Not that he said any of that. He was very polite and respectful. He answered a lot of questions from people, while we were waiting for our next course. And Chef Tom Kearney of The Farm on Adderley was on hand, to answer questions, too. Most of the questions were directed to Joshua about the social/political implications of eating meat without shame. Those were the boring questions. The more interesting questions were questions about what we were actually eating, and what it is that makes meat so delicious, when prepared this way.

The food was, in fact, spectacular. Here's what we ate:

By the end of the evening, I was drunk and tired and full of delicious pig meat. I felt vaguely guilty that I buy meat from Costco, and wished that I could purchase everything I eat from Fleisher's.  I also felt conflicted by virtue of knowing that "whole animal butchery" was something I should be supporting, but I don't have any good recipes for beef heart and I don't own a huge walk-in freezer in my house.

So, for all you vegans out there, here's what I'd say to you:  (1) I love animals; (2) I eat them constantly; (3) but there are limits. 

Sorrel Soup

Bacon Panna Cotta