Pork

Length: 2 mins I told you before how smart are pigs. Smart enough apparently to cure King Bladud back in the 9th century BCE. According to the historian Geoffrey of Monmouth, Bladud was the eldest son of the legendary King Lud (Lud Hurdibras)… Read More »A cure for leprosy? And a baby for the bard.

Length: 5 mins Or, as the Swiss saying goes — the equivalent of our own “nose to tail” — “vom schnörrli zum schwänzli”. I’ve banged on about this before (and no doubt will again in the future) but everything from the pig is edible… Read More »A truly offal project: from the oink, via the feet to the tail

Length: < 1 min Here is an ancient Greek memorial to a pig killed in a traffic accident. The poor pig is praised as “Everybody’s Friend”… I’m not 100% sure what breed this is however.

Length: 2 mins Before I get into this latest post, just a reminder that the very lovely & hard working people at Crisis, the homeless helping charity, need your money, day in, day out, to help their clients, the (expanding in numbers) homeless… Read More »Blades of glory (or tools of the trade)

Length: < 1 min Two beautifully observed & executed pieces; again, there aren’t many pictures devoted to women butchers. Camille Pissarro, The Pork Butcher (1883) Edouard-Jean Dambourgez, A Pork Butcher’s Shop (French, 1844-1890)

Length: < 1 min Some of the delicious youngsters in the mixed pig herd at Franklins Farm and the newest arrival to The Bulow Clan, Bobby-Lee, weighing in at 7lbs 6ozs. They’re all doing well.

Length: < 1 min A really rather large and magnificent British Saddleback boar at the open day at the very wonderful Franklins Farm today.

Length: 4 mins This lady gets it. “An average domestic pig at six months old is already hitting 70-80kg, and ready for slaughter,” she said. “But these are going on longer and to my mind it is better because we have got good… Read More »Iron Age Pig. And Pig Iron.

Length: 4 mins I’m pretty keen on pigs as you may have surmised. Monomaniacally at times, or so I’ve been told. But I’m not going to say “no” to other types of meat, especially not to good beef. And especially not to some… Read More »You say you want “The Steak (R)evolution”, well, you know…

Length: < 1 min That’s all you need to do; and you could help us stop 1/2 the food currently being wasted across the EU by this simple action. So, what are you waiting for? Sign it here now!

Length: < 1 min A quick shout-out to the team at Porky’s Bankside; some great ink on the team members, some fine bourbons on their flights (I’d recommend the Elvis Presley) and an excellent play-list. Recommended after a long day tracking around Tate Modern… Read More »Great shades dude…

Length: 4 mins In this follow-up piece, I’m covering a little more of the history and stories behind this area and accompanying it with some rather good photos and videos whose existence I wasn’t aware of until after starting the research for this… Read More »Butchers; Smithfield, Spitalfields & Borough Markets Part 2 of 3.

Length: < 1 min I’m not sure of the etymology of “Bulow” but in 1881, as you can see from this mapping via the census, there weren’t many of us here in England (a mere half a dozen). So, how about Kellogg as well,… Read More »I think I need an additional surname… “killer of hogs”?

Length: < 1 min So far, since last week, I’ve only been able to find this pair of English female butchers to add to last weeks post. And no news of anymore yet. Kensal Rise, London, Brooks  Butchers has two young female butchers and they’re… Read More »Great British butchers (who just happen to be female…) Pt. 2 of 2

Length: 2 mins I was going to use this as the title for another piece on Brandt & Levie (and thus as another of the terrible puns) but instead felt it fitted better here, where I want to give a shout-out to a… Read More »“It was the best of times; it was the worst of times”

Length: < 1 min This excellent piece in today’s Observer (and one, purely coincidentally, arriving on the same day as my earlier anti-Tesco rant this morning) asks this question and follows up with why “fresh local produce has been replaced by cheap, bland, industrial-farmed… Read More »The question on the table is: “How can we put the taste back into British food?”

Length: 2 mins … thus cementing its status as a 90s London icon. I ate there once. And it was OK. But for some reason, really quite unmemorable. I have no recollection at all of what I ate. And I don’t think that’s down… Read More »“Lunch at Quag’s, sweetie,” cooed Patsy to Edina…

Length: 6 mins You know what? There still aren’t that many, home or abroad. Traditional misogyny as the main reason aside for a second, it’s also a very physical trade, especially if you’re busting down large cow carcasses all day. That said, there… Read More »Great British butchers (who just happen to be not male…) Pt. 1 of 2

Length: < 1 min Take a look at this mouth-watering breakfast of champions below; I’m not sure anything else needs to be said…. Although interestingly, the Urban Dictionary defines “breakfast of champions” as “a breakfast that your mum probably wouldn’t serve you” A breakfast that… Read More »Hawksmoor breakfast anti-fogmatics

Length: < 1 min Read this piece in sheer disgust as did I. Then sign the petition to stop this happening. Both horses and pigs suffer terribly in the further pursuit of big-pharma profits. They need to to be driven out of business. If… Read More »A rant: the torture hormone that’s used to raise pig reproduction rates…