Jamie Bissonnette.
In my most recent article, I described my experience attending a hog-butchering workshop led by Boston chef Jamie Bissonnette. He mentioned during the workshop that he had been a vegan when he was younger. I wanted to find out more about what would make someone change his eating habits so dramatically, so I set up an interview with Jamie to talk about the influences and experiences that led him to follow a different path than the one he set out on as a young man.
After settling into a comfortable seating area near the bar at KO Prime, Jamie and I talked about his experiences with food when he was growing up in the '70s. He remembers always loving being in the kitchen. At age 7, he made an egg dish that was thick with cheese and he served it to the guys who were painting the house next door. They told him that they really liked it. That was the first time that he remembers people appreciating what he had cooked for them. He said that by the time he was 11, he realized that he was a better cook than his mom.
Playing It Straight Edge
Between ages 12 and 14, Jamie began to transition into being a vegetarian, largely under the influence of the budding "straight-edge" movement in Hartford, Conn. (The straight-edge aesthetic combines a love for hardcore punk with an aversion to "poisoning the body," often leading its adherents to give up meat.) He started touring with bands, playing electric and stand-up bass. Soon enough, he became a vegan.
I asked what the band ate while on the road. "A lot of Twizzlers and Fritos," Jamie says. "Because we were vegan we ate a lot of fast food fries and fruit. We'd stay at people's houses, usually the house of the parents of whoever had booked the show. We ate a lot of bagels and tofu. When we had a few days off we'd have big cookouts and I'd make a huge vegan feast. I loved Indian food and I'd look for dishes that were vegan or could be made to be vegan: fried rice, lentils, white beans, pasta, things like that."
Eventually Jamie realized that he wasn't making any money from music and that he didn't like touring, so he decided to go to culinary school. He entered the culinary arts program at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale and graduated at 19. He was still a vegetarian and an on-and-off vegan, but he had needed to taste cream and butter as part of his culinary training.
After chef school, Jamie returned to Boston. He began doing Mixed Martial Arts and found that his energy level was much higher if he avoided eating meat. But a chef in told him that in order to become a great chef he had to cook meat, and in order to cook meat he would have to eat it.
I asked Jamie what made him decide to do as the chef commanded rather than continue to do what made him feel best physically. He replied that he met the chef's demands because that's the kind of relationship that a young chef has with a mentor. "The chef is like a sergeant in the military -- you don't doubt the people who've been doing this a long time." He was 22 years old at this point. "I said to myself, 'Well, I want to be a chef, so this is what I need to do.'"
Waste Not, Want Not
How had his interest in butchering started? Jamie replied without hesitation: "Waste! I saw a lot of people wasting stuff. I was a daytime sous chef and we were getting in already fabricated [pre-cut] pork loins. I could see fat and connective tissue still on the meat and I wanted to do something with all that stuff. This was in the mid-'90s and pâté was not in vogue -- maybe in NYC or France but not in Boston. I decided to learn how to cook all of this stuff. I found a book from an old Time-Life series: Terrines, Pâtés and Galantines."
To this day, Jamie snaps up editions of the out-of-print book when they come up on eBay. "One year I gave them as a holiday present to every cook in the kitchen."
Meanwhile, he traveled, learned more about charcuterie, went back to Europe, and then returned to Boston in 2001 after working in Paris at a restaurant that had its own garden.
Right after 9/11, fine dining slowed down considerably. Jamie was working for Mark Orfaly at Pigalle, a highly regarded fine-dining restaurant. Jamie wanted to figure out a way to save money on what they were cooking. They decided to try to make food out of what they already had on hand. Jamie expressed his admiration for Mark's leadership style: "Mark said, 'Let's do this together. Let's make this a journey.'" Jamie was in charge of a Sunday tasting menu featuring regional food from France, and he focused on areas such as Normandy, which allowed him to incorporate charcuterie.
Jamie then did a second stint in France. When he returned to Boston, Eastern Standard was opening in Kenmore Square, near Fenway Park. Everyone told him not to attach himself to the restaurant, that the neighborhood was dead, that only Red Sox fans were there, and that Red Sox fans did not want to eat fancy French food. Jamie decided to take a chance and signed on at the restaurant anyway.
Their P.R. rep told them that they needed to showcase what made them different from other restaurants. They decided to make Eastern Standard known for charcuterie. Eastern Standard began to feature dishes like "offal of the day." Boston University owns the Hotel Commonwealth, where Eastern Standard is located, and Rebecca Alstead, the head of B.U.'s Gastronomy Program, ate at Eastern Standard frequently. Impressed by Jamie's skill at charcuterie, she asked Jamie to give a lesson on making it at the program.
The class went well, and Jamie came away with a reputation for being able to teach chefs how to use all the parts of an animal efficiently and well.
The Whole Beast
Many chefs feel that making the best and most thorough use of an animal is a way of respecting animals whose lives have been sacrificed in order to feed people. I asked Jamie what he would say to anyone who wants to know what he thinks about the ethics of eating meat, since he has the unusual perspective of having been both a serious vegan and a dedicated carnivore as well as a purveyor of meat dishes.
"I like to look at different sides of an argument. I'm a big devil's advocate," he says. "That said, I don't know the answer to that question. I'd have to take two years off of work to travel and visit many farms, and even then I don't know if I'll ever find the answer. Also, I think that if we cut meat out of our diets it will be a devastating blow to our economy. The balance in our lives would be affected."
We talk about other aspects of eating responsibly. "With the economy starting to tank, it's been getting harder to be a responsible consumer," Jamie remarks. "If you want to eat in a sustainable way, only grass-fed beef, etc., then you're going to have to reduce your caloric intake, because it's going to be a lot more expensive to eat that way." He adds: "I think that grass-fed beef doesn't taste that good, by the way."
I respond that the way I deal with the expense/responsible eating equation is to have reduced my red meat consumption substantially. I eat it very rarely, and so when I do choose to eat it I can afford to buy a little bit of high quality, sustainably-raised meat.
"We need to educate people," Jamie agrees. He points to the example of Share Our Strength, which educates the public about childhood hunger. "We need to reeducate people about how to eat less meat." This may seem to be an unusual sentiment from a chef who prides himself on his butchering skills. But the point of whole-carcass breakdown is to use "everything but the oink," as they say in the South, and that makes for a more sustainable way of using animals for meat.
Tripe à la Collinsville
Recipe by Jamie Bissonnette
This recipe makes 15-16 servings.
Jamie named this tripe stew after his hometown, the way French chefs often name the dishes they create. It will keep well for 7-10 days in the refrigerator, and freezes well for six to eight months.
The recipe calls for mirepoix. Mirepoix is a mixture of diced onion, carrots, and celery. It always has a ratio of 50 percent diced onions, 25 percent diced carrots, and 25 percent diced celery. A flavor-builder for other dishes, it's not usually served alone. Tripe à la Collinsville also calls for making a sachet. This website provides instructions on how to do that. Esplette is a type of chili pepper. Jamie used ground, dried Esplette in this recipe.
Jamie says this stew makes a nice dinner served alongside an arugula salad and a toasted baguette. Serve it with dry, spicy white wine, or a white with a minerally character.
6 pounds (roughly) honeycomb tripe. Either pork or beef is fine.
1/2 bottle white wine + 2 cups for second soaking session
3 quarts chicken stock
1 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrots
1/2 cup diced celery
1 teaspoon caraway
1 teaspoon coriander seed
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1 teaspoon mustard seed
If frozen, defrost the tripe in cold water in your refrigerator. Once defrosted, soak the tripe in a fresh pot of water mixed with the half-bottle of white wine for 3-12 hours. Store in the refrigerator while soaking.
Clean by scrubbing off the small pieces of fat with blunt side of a large kitchen knife. Rinse, and cover again in a pot of cold water with 2 cups of white wine, and 1 cup of salt.
Bring to a simmer. Turn off immediately and strain.
Return to the pot, and cover by 4 inches with chicken stock. Add a cheesecloth sachet (or wire screen tea ball) that contains the mirepoix, caraway, coriander, fennel seed, and mustard seed. Bring to a boil, reduce to low simmer, and cook for 5-6 hours with a tight-fitting lid.
Cool the tripe overnight in its liquid. Put the bowl that it's in over an ice bath (i.e., a bigger bowl full of ice), which will help it cool faster. When it's cool enough to go into the fridge, refresh the ice in the ice bath bowl and place the bowl of cooling tripe above it once more and move the whole setup into the refrigerator.
14 shallots, julienned
5-6 garlic cloves, sliced
2 Anaheim peppers, julienned
3 Poblano peppers, julienned
1 and 1/2 red jalapeño peppers, julienned
2/3 fennel bulb, brunoise (diced into small squares)
3 28-oz. cans of chopped tomatoes, but if you have access to ripe mixed heirloom tomatoes, use 5 cups or 2 pounds of those, chopped with the skin on and seed left in all of the prepared tripe, cut into bite-size pieces
4 cups applejack whiskey
Sachet (this one containing only the following four spices, and no mirepoix vegetables)
• 1 teaspoon caraway seed
• 1 teaspoon coriander seed
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• Salt to taste
Esplette pepper, dried and ground to taste
Reserved braising liquid from the first step
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
1/2 cup fines herbs (a specific blend of basil, chervil, tarragon, marjoram, and chives)
Lemon juice, squeezed fresh, to taste
1. Sweat shallots in olive oil in a tall stockpot.
2. While cooking the shallots, bring the tripe back to the boil in the braising liquid, strain, then reserve the braising liquid (the mixture with the chicken stock, white wine, and the first sachet of mirepoix and spices).
3. When the shallots are tender, add garlic. Cook until garlic is translucent. Add all three types of fresh peppers (not Esplette) and fennel. Cook until tender.
4. Add the new sachet and apple jack. Cook until liquid reduces by half.
5. Strain the canned tomatoes or, if using heirloom, dice them. Add the tomato, and reduce to simmer. Add the tripe.
6. Cook for 45 minutes, rewetting the tripe with the reserved braising liquid as needed. Thin to desired consistency with tripe liquid.
7. Finish with salt and Esplette.
8. To serve, season with fines herbs and butter. Squeeze lemon juice to taste over the top.
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Comments
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vdowns Posted 3:44 am
31 Jul 2008
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meadow20 Posted 5:33 am
31 Jul 2008
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jwebb Posted 6:49 am
31 Jul 2008
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John former Marine Posted 8:01 am
31 Jul 2008
Of course, as my fellow Grist posters would expect, I have many criticisms of both Roz's article and Jamie's choices.
Roz...if you're trying to push the environmental agenda, shouldn't you be covering former meat-eaters who have become vegan? Or chefs who have taken most meat off the menu and only buy grass-fed beef and only serve it in small portions as a part of a vegetable/grain-based meal?
Jamie's story is so inspiring...he gave up being a vegan to make money. That's why I gave up riding my bike to become a Hummer salesman.
Waste - Jamie says he was spurred to action by seeing all of the waste. Um...am I missing something here? The American meat industry doesn't really waste much. Bone meal, glue, dog food...
The "big devil's advocate" - Jamie says that if we all gave up eating meat (or ate a lot less of it), it would be a "devastating blow" to the economy. He must have the same economic advisor as Prezudent Bush. This is the same reason that we should keep flying on airplanes, keep taking vacations, keep buying big american cars, keep building big houses....all of these things are crucial to the economy. And being that....1% of our population derives their income from agriculture, we'd be hurting a lot of CAFO operators if we cut back on the steak. Shoot, and here I was riding my bike to work thinking I was helping the environment when all the time I was just hurting the economy. I really wish I had come by Jamie's wisdom earlier. Of course...I suppose that if people ate healthy vegan or low-meat diets that we'd see average medical expenditures go downward drastically...would that be good for the economy or bad? He should clarify with Karl Rove and get back to us.
"The balance in our lives would be affected" - Flying Spaghetti Monster forbid that anyone should change any aspect of their lives. We'd hate to cause less global warming. We know that it takes huge acreage to grow the grain necessary to feed the cattle raised in this country and that we could easily feed ourselves on many fewer acres if we were eating more garbanzos and lentils. We also know that it takes thousands of gallons of water to get a pound of beef to market. It also takes huge energy inputs in the form of fossil fuels to keep the meat industry going. And of course, what would we do if we were all a bit healthier...that would really upset our balance...
I'd hate to be teaching the next generation that we need to be mindful of how we live so that we ensure Mother Earth is in good shape for future generations.
"With the economy starting to tank, it's been getting harder to be a responsible consumer," Jamie remarks. "If you want to eat in a sustainable way, only grass-fed beef, etc., then you're going to have to reduce your caloric intake, because it's going to be a lot more expensive to eat that way." - Wow...Jamie actually hit the nail on the head there. If we don't have an economy based in cheap fossil fuels, it'll be impossible to grow all of the corn and soybeans we need to keep beef cheap. If we went to grass-fed beef, we'd all have to eat a lot less of it...imagine that, eating and living within your means! So sustainable would entail eating a lot less (or no) meat... (although that's not what this former straight-egger is advocating).
"I think that grass-fed beef doesn't taste that good, by the way." - Finally! We come to the only real reason that we have corn-fed beef in this country...most people's eating habits and tastes over the last generation have been defined by the menu at McDonalds. I'm sure Jamie wouldn't have faired very well at my dinner table growing up...moose, grass-fed beef, and (no kidding) road-kill deer. Somehow I always though that wild flavor was much better than the corn-fed beef from the grocery store. But then, I thought wild strawberries and home-grown tomatoes tasted better than the industrially-farmed versions. I'm sure Jamie wouldn't like the "gamey" taste of wild strawberries. Wild game is infinitely more healthy for you and hunters are probably one of the strongest blocks of conservation groups in the country.
And then Roz and Jamie finish the article with "we need to eat less meat"...kind of an afterthought after all of Jamie's enlightened views on the necessity of meat-eating.
Once again...I'd like to suggest to Roz that she interview some meat-eaters turned vegan or else cover cooks who have gone to a mostly-veg menu.
Grist, if you're looking for environmentally-related food articles, you can do a lot better than these fluff pieces. I'd be happy to send you some leads.
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John former Marine Posted 8:10 am
31 Jul 2008
T.G.I. Friday's Executive Chef Recommends Booze-On-Meat-With-Cheese Thing
July 9, 2008 | Issue 44*28
SCHAUMBURG, IL--The executive chef of the Tremont Road T.G.I. Friday's strongly recommended that a table of VIP guests try the evening's special: a "tender, juicy, and heavily seasoned" booze-on-meat-with-cheese thing. "Tonight's special is a succulent 8-ounce meat, infused with imported cheese and drizzled with a creamy reduction of booze," said chef Tom Pinelli, adding that the entrée is served on a bed of cheese and meat, and is best paired with a glass of booze. "However, if you're in the mood for something a little lighter, we do have a refreshing selection of sauce-on-fish-on-stick stuff, as well as some healthier cheese-filled-meat-under-bacon options." For vegetarian diners, Pinelli recommended the 56-ounce fried mushroom.
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Jason D Scorse Posted 10:48 am
31 Jul 2008
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tjwdraws Posted 12:36 pm
31 Jul 2008
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prometheus Posted 3:16 pm
31 Jul 2008
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caniscandida Posted 12:50 am
01 Aug 2008
"Healthy diet" is a totally anthropocentric end, not to say selfish.
Beautiful long comment, John fM. Thanks for pointing out the idiocy of the concern for economics, if everyone were to go vegan, which Jason Scorse also has done well to mock.
It may very well be defensible that non-human animals should be slain for the purpose of feeding human animals. But if so (and I am far from convinced), we should NEVER treat the slaughter of non-human animals as a casual, inevitable event.
The morality of killing non-human animals ought always to be recognized as a big issue among environmentalists. That this Boston pig-slaughterer has been given a free pass is surprising and disappointing.
At least my friend Roz tries to bring important moral terms such as "sacrifice" into the discussion.
Cf. also the disclaimer at the end credits of many movies: "No animals were harmed in the making of this film." Fine. But that does not mean at all that all the people working on that movie did not lunch on the flesh of chickens, pigs, cows, fish, and God knows who else, in the course of making that movie.
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craigdawson Posted 7:40 am
01 Aug 2008
I appreciate that the chef uses the "whole" animal... but why does he have to use any of the animal?!?!
Someone mentioned that Grist should be posting articles of people that were meat eaters and went vegetarian or vegan. That is absolutely correct!
Plain and simple, this is a site about environmentalism. Meat eating is one of the most environmentally destructive things out there. Because of the population of our planet, small "organic" animal farms will forever barely exist (at least in the US) and heavily polluting industrial farms will continue to expand. Besides the fact that Pigs are one of the smartest of "farmed" animals!
Not that it is much better, but couldn't the guy at least discuss chickens or fish, instead of pigs?!?
The guy obviously lacked enough backbone to stand up to his instructor chef. With a little education on animal free foods (or at least meat-free) he could have shown his instructor a thing or two about veggie cuisine!
Grist should focus these types of articles and interviews on chef's or celebrities that converted to vegetarian or vegan. There are hundreds of famous people (celebrities that are often looked highly upon by many fans and critics) that could help spread the message of veggie-ness to the rest of the population.
This has to be the most disappointing article I have seen in the 2 1/2 years or so I have been reading Grist.
We dont need any more articles about Anthony Bourdain wanna-be's.
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MAD MAC Posted 4:13 am
04 Aug 2008
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latenac Posted 4:49 am
04 Aug 2008
And then even though he's concerned about using the whole animal he still doesn't seem to understand anything about sustainable animal production.
There are myriad people to interview on this subject who are much more committed and articulate about their positions. Fergus Henderson, Rose Prince to name two. Even Anthony Bourdain who wouldn't be a vegan in a million years could make a better argument.
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javaearth Posted 7:43 am
04 Aug 2008
Like your previous "pro meat" articles you are promoting a Num Nut "chef" called Jamie Bissonnette. I do not care if you are eating "all" of the animal,,,, do you think that justifies the pain and suffering the animal had to endure. NO! How about you actually encourage people to eat ethically. Write according your markets niche versus being so pro killing animals.
No wonder your core sponsors are leaving you!
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javaearth Posted 7:50 am
04 Aug 2008
Grist go interview a real vegan, I bet it will be a better article than writing about this num nut!
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MAD MAC Posted 2:53 pm
04 Aug 2008
"You're a sociopath"
"No, no, no. Sociopaths kill for no reason. I kill for money, it's a job. No wait, that didn't sound right. Look pilots bomb cities, police shoot demonstrators, that's indiscriminate, I don't do that. Look I've lost my taste for it completely."
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mat Posted 12:50 am
05 Aug 2008
i agree with everyone who is saying this article is
pointless. it was also not well researched.
i don't post much on grist anymore, and i don't read this website more than once a week or so because of junk like this -
GRIST!
clean up your act!
what a bunch of garbage - john-the-marine-says everything i would say if i could write as well as he does.
thanks john! grist should hire you to write some food articles!
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mtvyfan Posted 2:58 am
05 Aug 2008
I know the vegans are going to say bad for the environment, etc, but it's feed lot beef that is finished on grain and causing a lot of environmental damage. If a cow is raised on grass, which is it's natural diet, they are not consuming a high petroleum input grain and they don't fart and belch as much, either.
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waken Posted 5:40 am
05 Aug 2008
to respond without violence,
to refrain from killing and eating my fellow beings,
to stand up to corporations and individuals who violate life,
and to tell them kindly and firmly:
There is much to sustain you on this Earth. Without killing and eating my sentient family and friends, you can nourish your body and awareness with vegetarian food and dawning insight.
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PermieWriter Posted 5:55 am
05 Aug 2008
Maybe some of the good taste is psychosomatic, knowing that the cow I'm eating had a good life and a decent death and that my contribution to the farm will help them continue practices that are healthy for the environment and their animals. But I'm looking forward to enjoying my eighth-share (we split a quarter-share with another family) over the course of the year. I even got some of the bones, so I can make mincemeat the traditional way.
I agree that Bissonette doesn't sound like he was much of a vegan. Let's hear about whole grains, fresh veggies and mushrooms, lots of mushrooms. Cheetos and Pepsi do not a sound diet make, even with the occasional feast.
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govegan4earth Posted 8:46 am
05 Aug 2008
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MAD MAC Posted 6:08 pm
05 Aug 2008
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