Having spent the majority of my childhood in Hong Kong, I’ve grown accustomed to watching hardworking men and women slaughter chickens and break down parts of a pig or a cow right right in front of me. At first, it was strange moving over here to the US where all meats are wrapped in plastic trays and broken down into their cuts, and fish are all filleted out.
Now, almost 20 years later, I find myself fascinated with how to “break things down”. For the last few years, I’ve moved from buying chicken breasts/thighs/wings to buying whole chicken and using everything for something. Working as a volunteer at the cooking school, I’ve had professional chefs show me how to properly break down all sorts of meats and seafood – I’ve loved every single minute of it!!
While a few people have just sworn off meats altogether in the post Food, Inc. era, I feel that the negative public opinion of these giant slaughter houses should give more business back to the local “old school” butchers. I came across a couple of videos yesterday and thought they were worth a look.
Vadim’s dream is coming true. Follow the progress of Akimenko Meats at http://akimenkomeats.com.