Event

Boucherie Houston

On Sunday March 20, 2016, from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., come experience a traditional South Louisiana Boucherie right here in Houston. The day will feature butchering demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, and a full day of eating various dishes prepared by Houston chefs with the help of our Boucherie team.

A Boucherie is a community coming together to harvest an animal. Due to the intensive labor involved in whole animal butchering, a farmer would call upon friends, family and neighbors to assist in the task. This day of work normally turned into a celebration, with plenty of food, music and spirits to go around. No one went home hungry or empty handed. Most of the meat butchered at a Boucherie is processed with the intent of preservation, with the understanding that not a single aspect of the sacrificed beast would be wasted. Boudin and boudin noir, gratons, fraisseurs, saucisse de voile, backbone fricasse, head cheese, tasso, chaudin, panse and saucisse de graisse are all products of this philosophy. There are 7-8 different cook stations that prepare the animal for consumption. The crew teach the process behind each of these traditional products. By the Boucheries end, the entire animal is cooked and ready to be eaten.

Our Houston event will focus on demonstrating and teaching the Boucherie tradition. Due to the current lack of personal connection to our food source and the ever growing farm to table movement, this process really speaks volumes to its participants. The day starts out with our crew killing a pig in front of a reluctant group of participants, including other chefs, farmers and butchers. Most have never seen the death of an animal that they intend on eating. To say that the experience is impactful would be an understatement. Some have referred to it as spiritual. I would call it natural.