Fleisher’s steely knives break it all down for the holidays

Fleisher’s program is appealing for granting its apprentices liberal and direct access to the meats, many of the apprentices said. Bundi teaches the program. He said he starts the apprentices off with a lamb, since it’s anatomically similar to a cow, but far easier to handle due to its relatively diminutive size. Next he teaches how to butcher a pig, which is delivered sawed in half down the middle — a frightful sight for the uninitiated. Last up, steer, which are large and cumbersome. He said Fleisher’s butchers roughly six tons of animal meat every week, though that number includes bones. It amounts to about thirty-some animals. The butchers break them down and package for the Park Slope location, so the Kingston shop is not actually moving all that meat through its retail doors. Fleisher’s does not regularly butcher the chickens they sell, which all come from one farm that follows all their same guidelines to ensure consistency. They are broken down elsewhere.

Respecting the animal through total usage

Part of the beauty of proper butchering is that when it’s done right, there is no waste.  Fat is rendered, bones are spared for stock, organs are sold for consumption or animal food, ears and snouts are smoked for animal treats — even the feet (trotters) are sold in the case or used for stock. Fleisher’s smokes its own meats and makes its own soup stocks for sale. They sell nitrate-free hotdogs and make a dozen different sausage varieties. There’s ground “bork,” which is ground bacon and pork, commonly used for meatballs or meatloaf. There’s also a ground beef blend with 10 percent bacon which we hear makes for an excellent Bolognese sauce.

Evan Brady, recently laid off from his position in purchasing, traveled from Grand Rapids, Michigan to re-enter his family’s tradition of butchery when he returns by opening his own shop. With Michigan’s near-10 percent unemployment rate, the job market is fiercely competitive out there. Though the starting salary can be as low as $15 per hour, Bundi explained, the apprentices emerge from the program with a skill that will always guarantee them employment and advancement. And, for most, it’s a very satisfying passion. “I love this,” said Brady. “I can do this every day and be totally happy doing it.”

Brady said he chose the program because the Fleisher’s name and reputation offers him an edge and advantage. He said that he has already been approached by several farmers to butcher their animals. Brady pointed out that there is far less waste of an animal when a professional butcher does it, compared to a farmer butchering his or her own animals for sale at a farmer’s market.

Fleisher’s says pastured meats generally cost about 15 percent more than factory farm meats due to the organic industry’s inherently higher costs. “A customer can walk in and tell the butcher what their budget is for the week, and how many people they are feeding, and the butcher can work with them on a menu and help them pick out the right cuts to meet their budget,” said Bonilla. They even lay out four meals a week for six weeks for under $50 on their website, using their own meats. One pound of ground beef costs $7.99. Most popular steak is the rib eye, $22.99 per pound. The boneless, skinless chicken breast is second most popular, and runs $9.99 per pound. Bundi’s personal fave is the Denver steak, a juicy cut from the chuck, and is $11.99 per pound.

Their storefront sells a host of local products, like cheeses from Hudson Valley farms, Hudson Valley Fresh and Ronnybrook Dairy products, Brooklyn Brine and Mama Oh’s fermented foods, local pastured eggs from J&D Farms and Brookside Farm and Meadow Creek Farms and, closest of all to my vegetarian heart, killer granola blends from Upstate Granola from New Paltz. For more information, visit them at 307 Wall St. or call 338-MOOO.