A good friend recently pointed out to me that I always seem to make friends with butchers when we travel! Well…I hadn’t really thought about it but then again, I guess it’s true and considering we cook while on vacation, it’s a good thing. First it was “the butcher of Panzano” in Chianti, then the guys at “Wyndham House in Chelsea, London”. I can hardly wait until our next trip to see who I might make friends with!
Marlena de Blasi has written a number of books but two of them remind me of our experiences with butchers; “A Thousand Days in Venice” and “The Lady in the Palazzo”. When she met Fernando, who became her husband in Venice, she moved there to be with him. She knew hardly anyone and spent her days, while he was working, becoming friends with butchers, bakers and vegetable sellers in the piazza’s of Venice.
When they moved to Orvieto in Umbria, she found the Orvietani stand-offish to say the least and once again found herself seeking and making friends just as she had done in Venice!
Make friends with a butcher, they are good people for you to get to know! Also, it’s a lot more fun and interesting than a supermarket and you will be supporting local small business’ to boot!
One of our discoveries in Vancouver is Pete’s Meats on 12th and Arbutus in Vancouver. Pete is the coolest butcher ever! If you follow me on Facebook you will see that we have been very impressed with them! Not long ago we purchased a butterflied leg of lamb and when we picked it up got the personal story about the “grower,” where his flock lives, plus other interesting tidbits! Slow food at work!
