Pork-A-Palooza: Butchering 101

 by Rachel Boothby, L'Etoile server

Butchering 101

The pig lay in “primal” pieces on the butcher-block countertop. A head, a shoulder, a side, a butt, two hooves, appearing much too dainty to have carried the two-hundred pound Mangalitsa pig displayed in front of me. Skin, shaved smooth, covered fat in some places several inches thick, deposited through months of eating whey and acorns.  By all accounts present, this pig was a perfect specimen. I found the carcass, while unsettlingly raw and pink, somehow beautiful.



The painstaking process of skinning

During “Butchering 101,” Chef Tory Miller and friend of the restaurant Pete Kelly led the L’Etoile staff through the process of breaking down several pigs obtained from Uplands Dairy in L’Etoile’s kitchen. Having already perfected the art of creating raw milk from Jersey cows (the envy of all dairies in Wisconsin) and produced two highly sought-after award-winning cheeses, Uplands Dairy had expanded its operation to recapture some of the waste produced during the cheesemaking process. 

Pigs, as it turns out, love the whey that is produced in abundance by Uplands cheesemakers. And when pigs love something, they consume it by the trough-ful, becoming the obese individuals that chefs prize so dearly. These pigs had spent their lifetime eating, and now the tables had turned. 

Stephen working with the handsaw

Chef Tory explains the different cuts

Using handsaws, we cut between the vertebrae. Carving through the massive proportions of fat, we revealed the pork chops—thirteen ounces of delicious meat. The trimmed-off fat was set aside, saved for later use. Two tenderloins were peeled from the inside of the ribcage, and sculpted into bright red cylinders. Sheets of fat were layered with peppercorns, salt, juniper berries, grated nutmeg and placed in the walk-in refrigerator to cure. Bacon was packed in brown sugar and spices, salt and maple. Brine was poured from 5-gallon buckets, submerging juicy, tender cuts of meat.

Brigitte works on skinning a leg

Each staff member, server and line cook alike, wore a white coat as we worked side by side to transform the pig into the various elements of charcuterie. Several months later, we knew we would painstakingly slice and arrange the coppa, prosciutto, lardo and pâté on a plate, carefully carry them a table, introduce them with pride to our guests, and watch as they are savored slowly by a group of friends. 

Rachel preparing pork chops

For those of us who work at L’Etoile, whether in the kitchen, on the floor, in the office or behind the bar, what we do each day is a labor of love. When we create a plate of charcuterie, or any other dish, the raw ingredients come from friends whose farms we’ve visited and whose products we are intimately familiar with. We are respectful of our food, the people who grow and raise it, and, in this case, the pig whose life had ended to make our artistry possible.