Local meat sourcing: The Thatchers Arms butchers a lamb
They say 'fortune favours the brave'. Butchery is not for the faint-hearted, but there are savings to be made for those willing to dismember their own carcasses. If you're a professional butcher, or in any way squeamish, look away now…
Local meat for local people
Located in Mount Bures in rural Essex, the Thatchers Arms has a loyal customer base and competes with several quality eateries in the area for diners and function bookings.
These are discerning diners, some of whom make a point of booking a table when they know there will be specialist meat on the menu.
With regular deliveries of venison to the pub from local providers, chef Mick Illingworth and licensee Mitchel Adams are experienced at skinning and butchering deer. When I visited last week, however, they had just collected a lamb as part of their preparations for Mother's Day.
Purchased from local supplier Direct Meats, the lamb was reared at Kelvedon Lodge, Great Braxted - just 18 miles from Mount Bures - a great selling point for ever more conscientious consumers.
With DEFRA's new electronic identification (EID) scheme for sheep increasing meat prices, it's important to make savings wherever you can, without resorting to inferior meat.
DIY dismemberment
Mitch tried his hand at butchering meat when he first took over the Thatchers Arms.
"Before Mick joined us, I had a muntjac (a species of small deer) delivered and had never butchered an animal in my life, so I bought Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's Meat book and got to work," he says. "I made a bit of a hash of it, but it went down pretty well, and we made a profit from it."
Mitch previously worked in various pubs for Mitchells & Butlers, working his way up to relief manager before going into business himself three-and-a-half years ago.
With Mick on board, Mitch has an experienced chef who is not scared to get stuck in. Armed with a bit of knowhow, a saw, some sharp knives and a generous dollop of self confidence, the two of them set to work.
Mick will be the first to admit that he is not a professional butcher, but he is keen to stress that "you don't have to be an expert".
Asked how he started learning how to cut up animals, he says: "I learnt a bit of it in the army, and when I was a prison officer in Chelmsford, all our meat came in whole and we had to butcher it ourselves.
"Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and say: 'I can do this. If I muck it up, I can still get something out of it'."
Crafty cuts
By butchering your own animal on the premises, not only can you make savings, but you can also allow your chef to be a little more adventurous with the specials board.
The cuts taken from this animal included racks, chops, legs for roasting, shoulder for (Greek dish) kleftiko, diced lamb for pies, filet mignon, kidneys, and bones for stock.
