What is the porcine project?
A lifestyle. A commitment. A statement. But mostly a fun project from the brain of Kurt Dammeier, a Seattle food-based business owner, pure-food activist, advocate and chef. For the past some odd 5 years Kurt has been dreaming of buying whole hogs for his meat supply…the timing wasn’t ever right until the day he found out Estrella Family Creamery was selling Berkshire cross-breeds…
Porcine is another word for swine, or pig. This blog is the documentation of a Seattle restaurants’ journey to sourcing local, ethically raised swine, and the delicious recipes that are inspired from use of the whole animal. We want you, our readers to see how accessible good quality local meat actually is. We will discuss the in’s and out’s of the process, from the farmer all the way to the kitchen.
I am Autumn Martin, and I’m your trusty reporter for The Porcine Project. I am the former Chocolatier of Theo Chocolate and now Chocolatier/Owner of Hot Cakes Confections. While I deal in sugar most of my days, this project interests me as I am picky about the meat I chose to eat and am an advocate of local farming. So I thought I would love to be a part of such a great project – helping teach people how to get closer to their food source.
We hope that you join our journey and learn with us along the way!
THE BEGINNING
It all began at the Island County Fair on Whidbey Island, WA about 4 years ago. Every year pigs were auctioned off and every year, Kurt Dammeier wanted to buy one of those pigs. But the timing was just never so – until a few months ago when Kurt learned that Estrella Creamery had some hogs for sale.
With a love for Estrella already in place (you know, cheese maker to cheese maker), it didn’t take much to persuade Kurt to purchase a few pigs from them. The excitement was high, knowing that the “pig dream” was nearly fully realized. The only missing link was a trip to the farm to pick out the pigs and a plan for all of the meat. ROAD TRIP!
So Kurt and a couple of his team members took a trip to Estrella and picked out their hogs. While they were there, they figured it wouldn’t hurt to also eat a lot of cheese and tour the new state of the art cheese cellar that Kelli and Anthony just built. Not a bad afternoon.
With the pigs chosen, the team had to wait just a few days before the slaughter. Once the pigs were slaughtered, they took a trip to Heritage Meats where they were butchered and packaged up in primal cuts for the restaurants use.
So now here we are with about 450 pounds of meat and so many inspirations for delicious dishes.
We hope that you enjoy our journey into the world of the Porcine Project where we will discover some new and some timeless ways to use pork in tasty dishes and rejoice in our local, humanely-raised delicious artisanal pig meat.
THE ESTRELLA’S
The Estrella’s have been selling their cheese since 2003 (after 17 years of hobby cheese-making), in 2001, they purchased a large dairy farm of 164 acres in Montesano, WA on the Olympic Peninsula, where they have both cows and goats that they milk to create their award winning cheeses. They work day in and day out with their 6 children and sell at their farm store, 3 farmers markets in and around Seattle and specialty retail stores along the West Coast.
Anthony and Kelli started out as high school sweethearts in the Bay Area and moved here to Seattle at the ripe age of 23. They bought a couple of goats after their honeymoon per Kelli’s request to a more wholesome life and have been making cheese since. They appreciate being stewards of the land and love the work ethic the farm teaches their children.
Kurt met Kelli Estrella the day Beecher’s Handmade Cheese opened, November 17th, 2003. She walked in with her bleu cheese #1. Kurt instantly fell in love with the delicious cheese and grew an immediate respect and liking for the Estrellas. He claims they are “one of the best cheese makers in the nation” – go Kelli and Anthony!
So it was an obvious choice when Kurt heard of the pigs the Estrella’s were raising. It was time for Kurt’s pig dream to come alive!
THE HAPPY PIGS
The pigs raised at Estrella Family Creamery are a cross-breed of Berkshire, Yorkshire and Duroc.
The Yorkshire pig was first developed in Yorkshire, England in 1761 and was brought to the states in 1830. To date, the Yorkshire is the most recorded swine breed in the United States. We know you’ve seen ‘em…think Babe. They are the pinkish-whitish pigs we all think of when we think pig. They have excellent sow production and are extremely muscular with a high proportion of lean meat.
The Duroc is the second most registered pig in the U.S. next to the Yorkshire. They range from a yellow to a deep red color. They were developed in the states around 1830 and are known to be the most aggressive of all breeds. Despite their aggressiveness they produce some of the finest meat next to Berkshire. They are used often in cross-breeding for meat production.
Berkshires are one of the oldest identifiable breeds of pig. originating in Berkshire, England, their discovery dates back to the 1700′s and later made their way to the U.S. in the 1800′s.
The Berkshire hog has a distinctive flavor and exceptional marbling throughout the meat which makes it a preferred choice when it comes to eating pork. Their breed has stayed true for over 200 years and as of 1875, the American Berkshire Association has been keeping records of registered Berkshire hogs. They dedicate their time preserving and promoting the breed.
Many chefs and consumers seek out the Berkshire hog meat for it’s juiciness (from the high amount of fat), texture (also from fat), flavor (also from fat!) and rich pink color. And now it is fairly easy to find small farms raising Berkshire hogs in a sustainable fashion using no chemicals or pharmaceuticals. This particular breed of hog does great on the farm as they are a pleasure to raise. They have a friendly disposition, make great mothers and produce delicious tasting meat.
The pigs we purchased from Estrella Creamery were raised out in the woods on their 164 acre farm. They were kept in pens which would get rotated around the woods every couple of weeks. The pigs mostly foraged for their food, digging their snouts underground devouring little trees, roots and any other growing thing. They also ate leftover whey from cheese-making and cranberries! Ocean Spray is nearby and donates all of their excess fresh and dried cranberries to neighboring farmers. The pigs LOVE the cranberries!
Kelli and Anthony’s sons Ernest and Samuel were the pig guys and love the job so much, they are thinking about starting their own little pig-raising business!
THE BUTCHERY
It was a rainy day in Seattle when we visited the butcher shop in Rochester, WA. Heritage Meats has been around since 1977 – Tom Smaciarz opened the doors to East Olympia meats and taught his son Tracy everything he knew about the trade. In 1996 Tom handed the business down to Tracy who relocated the butcher shop to Rochester and changed the name to Heritage Meats. Tracy has been going strong ever since and has earned himself a really good reputation for producing quality cuts of meat.
So today, I was fortunate enough to experience the full breakdown of a pig. It went surprisingly fast! Thanks to modern tools like the bandsaw, it takes them roughly 30 minutes to go from whole pig to primal cuts (see photo). Tack on an extra 45 minutes and you have yourself chops, loins and bacon ready to go.
An average pigs weighs about 250 lbs, 60-70% of which goes to your family for eating. That is about 175 lbs at best. That’s a lot of meat! And if you keep the bones for stock, (highly recommended) you just created more bang for your buck.
Weights and cuts from 3 pigs:
100 lbs Belly
80 lbs Loin
100 lbs Leg
50 lbs Shoulder
20 lbs Shank
150 lbs Ground
22 lbs Spare Rib
7.5 Tender
BUTCHER LINGO:
“…buzz this loin up real quick.” Meaning: to saw the loin into chops.
“chiming the loin” Meaning: To make pork chops more presentable
THIS LITTLE PIGGY WENT TO THE MARKET…
And this little piggy went all the way to Bennett’s Pure Food Bistro in Mercer Island, WA. All three of them did as a matter of fact.
You know, it’s actually not that hard to purchase a whole animal from one of your local farmers. True, it does require an initial investment and some freezer space, but you get flavor and an experience that is unavailable from your grocery store. And you actually get to meet your meat!
In the past 5 years it has become ever-increasingly more popular to meet your food. Whether it is volunteering on your local organic farm or taking a tour of the ranch that raises your cattle or simply shopping at your local farmers markets where you can give your money directly to farmers…either way folks are paying closer attention to what happens behind the scenes when it comes to their food.
Kurt Dammeier is no exception to this movement. He has been passionate about pure food for years now and was able to share his passions with the public when he purchased Pasta & Co in 2000.
In spring of 2003 Kurt went on to open Beecher’s Handmade Cheese in the Pike Place Market. Kurt was instantly challenged with sourcing enough high quality chemical and antibiotic-free milk. So what did he do? Purchased his own herd of Jersey cows and added them to another farmers Holstein herd. Since, Beecher’s has been able to secure supply from other local dairies who do not use rBST and feed their herd premium feed.
In 2007 Kurt opened Bennett’s Pure Food Bistro in Mercer Island. He was actually looking for a second location for Beecher’s but came across the current location and thought a restaurant would serve the Mercer Island community well. So, with all of his pure food passions and ambition, Bennett’s has done just that with this philosophy: ”We buy from producers who share our commitment to whole foods and handmade fare. People dedicated to the simple pleasures of creating delicious food and drink the way it was intended to be made; fresh from the earth, the sea and the vine.”
