If you didn’t know he was such a nice guy, it would be easy to hate East Nashvillian Matt Moore, or at least be really envious of him. Already the author of four cookbooks, including Serial Griller, The South’s Best Butts and A Southern Gentleman’s Kitchen, Moore has also seen success as a cook and television presenter. Oh, and he’s a pilot who can fly himself to enjoy dinner anywhere he wants.
I was only a light shade of chartreuse with envy when I received a copy of his latest tome, Butcher on the Block, which came out last month. I devoured it cover to cover in an afternoon, and any potential envy has been firmly converted into admiration and thanks, because Moore has tackled a topic that absolutely deserves to be expanded on: the role of the butcher in the culinary world.
Not intended to be a guide to home butchery, Moore's book does start off with a brief primer on how to break down chicken, beef tenderloin, pork chops and fish, courtesy of James Peisker of Porter Road Butcher. Moore and Peisker also offer a helpful list of equipment to have on hand if you want to tackle some larger-scale butchery. (You do have meat hooks and gambrels, right?)
Instead of concentrating on the “how” of the mystical butcher arts, Moore focuses on the “who,” sharing personal stories of his own family’s connections to the meat industry. Then he profiles butchers from around the country and shares recipes that revolve around regional specialties. So you’ll find a veal piccata recipe courtesy of the DeLuca family of Vincent’s Meat Market in the Bronx, boudin egg rolls from Leighann Smith and Daniel Jackson from Piece of Meat in New Orleans and Omar Lopez’s barbacoa tacos that he prepares in his Carniceria Specialty Meats in Enterprise, Ala.
Even more personal are Lebanese dishes that Moore researched from his own family history, specifically from his grandfather Abraham Samuel “Giddy” Dennis. While not everyone is brave enough to try Kibbeh Nayyeh, Moore does offer an option to cook the traditionally raw ground round and bulgar wheat concoction. If you’re still nervous, go for the sirloin Shish Kebabs.
Char Siu Fried Rice from Hing Lung Company in San Francisco
Another fun local angle is an extensive interview with Moore’s own local butcher, Tommie Kelly from the Eastland Kroger at 711 Gallatin. In an era when grocery store butchers rarely get to cut much meat and instead sell pre-portioned chops and steaks from boxes of frozen meat, Kelly worked his way up from stocking shelves overnight to working behind the meat counter and cooking ribs on the smoker on the sidewalk in front of the store.
The second half of the book fills out menu holes from the profiles with dishes developed by Moore and beautifully photographed by local shooter Andrea Behrends. The recipes are clearly written and not overly ambitious. I can’t wait to drop by Kroger to shop for some ingredients from Tommie Kelly, double up my Lipitor prescription and fire up the grill to try some of these dishes this summer!
Butcher on the Block is available at local booksellers and from the national retail sites.
