Achilleos Antonis - The everyday meat guide : a neighborhood butchers advice book

And with thanks to Carmine Venezia for opening the door to a great education; to Jane Dystel and Miriam Goderich of Dystel & Goderich Literary Management for helping make this book a reality; to Joey and Ralph Corrado of Corrados Market in New Jersey and Master Purveyors and the Solaz family in New York for providing meat.

Text copyright 2016 by Ray Venezia.
Photographs copyright 2016 by Antonis Achilleos.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form without written permission from the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4521-4718-5 (epub, mobi)

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:
Venezia, Ray.
The everyday meat guide : a neighborhood butchers advice book / Ray
Venezia with Chris Peterson.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-4521-4288-3 (pb)
1. Meat. I. Peterson, Chris, 1961- II. Title.
TX373.V46 2016
641.3'6dc23
2015008240

Designed by Vanessa Dina
Illustrations by Amanda Sims
Typesetting by Howie Severson

Chronicle Books LLC
680 Second Street
San Francisco, California 94107
www.chroniclebooks.com

INTRODUCTION

I come from a family of butchers three generations deep. I started learning my craft behind the counter at a local meat market, where helping customers meant a lot more than just stocking premium meat and poultry, cut to exacting standards. I was taught it wasnt good enough just to sell a cut of meat, that you always sell the best possible cut for a particular customer and made damn sure that the customer had all the information he or she needed to properly handle, prepare, and cook the cut. I quickly learned never to assume customers knew what they were buying or how to cook it.

When my career path led me to the meat director position at Fairway Markets, in New York, I passed on the mantra of help the shopper to everyone who worked for me. I was adamant that my staff never push one cut or another just because they had a lot on hand. I stressed that they needed to listen to the shopper, and then offer advice on the best meat or poultry for that shoppers needs. I taught them that earning customers trust was a key part of the craft behind the counter.

Along the way, I was invited to offer advice to viewers on programs like Rachael Ray, Fox & Friends , and Good Day New York , where I had the opportunity to pass on valuable lessons to anyone shopping for meat and poultry. The goal was always the same: Help people buy the meat and poultry that delivers the best value for money and the best flavor, given what and how they wanted to cook. Just as I had throughout my career, I used those four-minute TV segments to clear up what can be a very confusing shopping experience.

Im betting that you know exactly what Im talking about. If youve stood in front of a packaged-meat case wondering which was the best steak for you, or sliced into a chicken breast that is charred on the outside while still pink on the inside, or passed by a butchers shop because you were too intimidated to step inside or had no idea what the butcher could do for you, or if youve ever felt like you were paying too much and getting too little when buying meat and poultry, this book is for you.

Ive helped thousands of customers identify, buy, and cook the best meat for themselves and their families. The key has always been to anticipate the questions. That can be a challenge sometimes, but the questions shoppers ask have all been asked many times before. Thats why I wanted to collect all the answers to those questions in one easy-to-read placethis book.

My goal for every page in this book is that you will shop your meat case with my advice in mind, seeing through my eyes, to pick out the freshest, best-quality meat and poultry. I also help you get the absolute most you can for your grocery budget. And I provide you with plenty of cooking tips, so you can prepare meat and poultry the way that tastes best to you and your family, with no money wasted, no food wasted, and no frustration at the market or in your kitchen.

Ive set up the book so that you can just turn to the cut of meat that matters most to you. Have a hankering for a low-cost, high-flavor steak you can grill in a few minutes without a lot of fuss and muss? Turn to !

I make it that easy for you. Pick a topic, read a few lines, notice the camera icons that tell you which photograph at the back of the book shows the cut (some cuts appear larger in proportion to others to show detail), and youre ready to head out to the store or into your kitchen with confidence. If you arent sure what cut or particular type of meat you want, a little more background is in order. No worries. In each chapter Ive included an in-depth introduction to the meat, along with plenty of boxes that explain key information in more detail.

MEAT 101

Navigating a meat case or a butcher shop the smart way is not just a matter of knowing a little bit about the cuts you want and what you could buy. Its also a matter of knowing how different meats are packaged, what different terms actually mean, and how all that affects the best value for you.

LEARNING LABEL LINGO

One of the most valuable lessons you can learn is what a meat-package label is telling you. Reading the label requires a little bit of knowledge, but a close read is essential to make sure that youre buying exactly what you want. Youll find terms on labels that mean next to nothing, but othersrequired by lawwill tell you almost the whole story of whats inside the package.

All packaged meat and poultry sold in a supermarket or other reputable outlet in the United States must be labeled with a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) inspection label. This tells you the contents are safe for consumption, based on the standards developed and maintained by the USDA. The meat may also be graded (see Making the Grade, ). If there is a grade, it will be listed in the middle bar of the USDA shield logo. Beyond the USDA info are label terms that can add to general confusion.

Lets start with the term natural. This term has been so misused that it has come to mean absolutely nothing. Technically, it describes a product that has no artificial ingredients or color, but the meat may contain residual hormones, antibiotics, processed feed, and other additives and still be considered natural.

Organic is a more legitimate term regulated by the USDA. The USDA Organic shield is an excellent sign of purity. Oddly, the term organic alone on a package requires that the contents conform to the same requirements necessary to carry the USDA shield. Producers must go to great expense to secure the USDA Organic inspection and marking. Some producers choose to avoid that expense and instead simply conform to the standards, labeling their products as organic. Store meat departments may buy USDA-certified organic primals (the primary sections of an animal) and break them down into packaged cuts, which produces a less-expensive, fresher product. Because a stores meat department is not USDA-certified, cuts produced this way can only have organic on the label and not the USDA Organic shield.