About My Quest

Happy pigs in mud, cows in clover. This is the way we like to think of farm animals. Unfortunately this is most often not the case. My love of animals and conviction that eating meat is part of the ideal healthy human diet has led me to seek out meat that is:

Humanely raised and treated
Free range
Grass fed
Hormone and Antibiotic free
Pesticide free
Affordable

Although certified organic food is wonderful because you are assured that the producers strictly satisfy the above criteria the cost of these products is generally very high and not affordable for everyone.
'Organic' is a ridiculous term because it simply means that it consists of natural elements. Many food producers are predominantly 'organic' by the definition set out by reputable certifiers however for a range of reasons they do not bother with the expense of becoming certified.
Many farmers produce food that fits the list above and I plan to find them. I encourage you to band together with friends, family and colleagues to buy in bulk direct from these farmers.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Nose to Tail Eating on Masterchef

I was delighted to see the episode on Masterchef featuring the amazing Fergus Henderson. Henderson is the chef who popularised the term 'nose to tail eating' which I have referred to before without realising this association.

You can watch the episode here.

The episode featured, fried pig's tails, stuffed pig's trotters and pig's head terrine which sound terrible but taste wonderful.

Fergus is not a trained chef he simply learnt the art of cooking from his parents. He opened the acclaimed and lauded restaurant, St John's in London and is famous for his use of the whole animal. I just love this quote from him...

"if you're going to kill the animal it seems only polite to use the whole thing"

I think that we should all keep this in mind when making food choices. I know we all have our favourite cuts of meat but with a little imagination and effort other cuts of meat can also be equally delicious.

For help with how to use more of the beast have a look at Fergus' famous book Whole Beast - Nose to Tail Eating available at Borders and other book stores. I also found it at my local library.


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