dining
A Local Endeavor The Piggery is a family passion By Eliz abe th William s
I
t’s a week before Christmas, and it seems as though Heather Sanford is everywhere at once inside the Piggery Butcher Case in downtown Ithaca. She’s clearly in her element, greeting long-time customers by name and asking about who is coming to dinner this year. “We are so glad to be a part of your family and your celebration,” she says, embracing a woman who’d come in for supplies. Pat, she said, has driven almost two hours to pick up what she refers to as “the essentials.” These included: rillettes, pate, two hams, a smoked ham hock, and of course, bacon for breakfast. As Heather moves behind the counter to ring her out, Pat remembers out loud that she almost forgot the lard. It’s her secret to fabulous pie, she shares, and she is certain that everyone would have noticed the difference. Pat and Heather continue to chat about recipe favorites and how locally grown and sustainable food makes all the difference in flavor. Two men in heavy tan overalls stand before the meat counter, salivating over the sandwich menu. The Piggery has a strong
counter business, individuals who know they can’t get a better Cuban or a pulled pork sandwich for lunch anywhere else. Heather is the order taker and the chef today, so she scurries from the register to the back, wrapping herself in a white chef ’s jacket, gloves and a hair net. The Piggery is USDA Certified and they have a compliance officer on site at all times. The company is very committed to natural and sustainable food you can feel good about. It’s hard to track Heather as she moves from task to task. The shop is understaffed today, she says, an eyebrow furled in a feigned disappointment. But to anyone who knows her, this isn’t the least bit convincing: Heather’s still smiling and enjoying every minute of being everything to everyone. “We can handle it,” Heather said. “This is nothing like the early years!” Many long-term residents of Ithaca and the surrounding areas will remember the “early years” of The Piggery. From the meat CSA that was the talk of culinary NYC to the #1 Yelp Rated restaurant that used to occupy the production space next to the meat counter, the early years were a dream come true, a dream that neither Heather
nor her partner, Brad Marshall knew they had. Back in Trumansburg, Marshall is muttering to himself, calf-deep in a mixture of snow and mud, repairing a section of fence. “We have some really bad pigs,” he said. “They don’t like to stay where they are supposed to be.” It’s hard not to find his admonishment of these defiant “free range pigs” comical and a little bit ironic; The reality is that Brad’s pigs have it made if they stay within his fenced pastures. They are well-fed, have access to acres of land and live next door to their primary caretakers. Two years ago, Brad came up with an innovative and costeffective way to shield them from the harsh upstate winter. There have been hits and misses over the years, but business overall is booming. Around the holidays, the Piggery Butcher case sells over 1,200 lbs. of Christmas ham and 450 turkeys. Unfortunately, all the sales they make don’t necessarily translate into a profitable living. The meat processing industry has some of the lowest profit margins of any field. It takes investment – time, money and skill – to raise pastured and healthy pigs. There is a lot of waste in the modern meat processing business, but Brad Marshall feels like it is his job to change that. Since the beginning, Brad has used his training at the French Culinary Institute to make use of the whole pig. On a whim, in 2003, Brad purchased his first pig off Craigslist in Berkley, CA where he was working on a genome project and Heather
Brad Marshall and Heaher Sanford (Photo provided)
was selling houses. They sent the pig to a butcher and had it cut into primals–whole legs, loins, belly and shoulders that needed to be further processed for cooking. Brad took to the task at hand with vigor. He dry cured much of it, using an age old preservation technique, knowing that the two of them alone wouldn’t be able to consume that much meat over the course of a season. The liver became pate. The skin, chicharones. The head he turned into head cheese, a delicacy that is still sold at the Piggery today. He made sausage, roasts and of course, pork chops. Brad and Heather are relentless in their search for new markets and new avenues for sharing this message. Brad’s next venture, a food blog and cookbook, titled A Farmer and a Chef, aims to help people access all cuts of meat in his own minimalist way. The first three posts are up: slow cooking, fast cooking and why vegetable oil is going to kill you. Visit www.afarmerandchef.com to find out more. •
Get More Traffic To Your Website With Ithaca.com Online Marketing
We put you in front of thousands of readers. . . ithaca com 22
The
I thaca Time s
/
D e ce mb e r
Fast!
Let Us Promote Your Business
Call to Get Started! 21– 27,
2016
607-277-7000