Perfect Gift - Etheringtons Butchery Academy

I was asked if I would like to attend and review a day course at The Etheringtons Butchery Academy in Cornwall.  Great idea but how about Mr R does the course and I take the photos and write the blog!  Great was the response and so the planning started.  The Falmouth Oyster Festival was coming up in October and I thought it would be a great weekend to do both.

We arrived in Falmouth after a five and a half hour drive on the Thursday afternoon, booked into our hotel and set out to see what the Oyster Festival was all about and Friday we explored the beach as well as the festival.

But up bright and early on Saturday and we headed to the tiny village of Wheal Rose to the home of Etheringtons Butchers.  Our day was to be a pork butchery course with a cornish pasty made on site followed by sausage making before finishing.

We met Frank, our butchery instructor for the day who could bone and roll a shoulder of pork in 49 seconds! We both took a little bit longer than that.

When we arrived I was surprised to learn that not only were we the only participants for the day but that I was going to work too.  We both had half a pig in front of us

 

A quick lesson in the tools of the trade we would be working with, the proper way to steel a knife - it's all in the sound, and then getting kitted up with our chain mail safety gear.

Mr R looking fetching in chain mail!!

Frank got us to inspect our piece of pork for sharp pieces of bones and then getting to know the pork.

We systematically worked our way through learning all sorts of hints and tricks as we went along.

The shop (where you can get your hands on a wide range of beautiful pieces of meat is attached) and needed a chined loin of pork. Frank promised the shop one and set about guiding Mr R through the process!

Final touch putting the little 'hats' on the bones before sending the loin into the shop.

The final piece of work was to bone and roll a shoulder of pork.  We each did this with a friendly rivalry as to whose butcher's knots were the best. (I think mine were!!)

A quick break for a Cornish pasty lunch made on the premises then back to work!

Nothing is wasted and all the pieces of pork we cut off were put to one side to make sausages.

It was easy to use the machine and fill the skins,

The skill came later when we learned how to tie them into the bundles you see hanging in the butcher shops.  My finger nails were a bit too long and I was scared I would rip the skins and the sausages were quite heavy towards the end.

The day had to come to an end (Mr R was proud to see his joint of pork on display in the shop) but we had such a good time, Frank was a great instructor and taking home our boned and rolled pieces of shoulder and a bunch of sausages was a really experience.

If you are looking for a fun and unusual gift then contact Etheringtons, they can send you a gift voucher and make the booking process really easy for you. Make a weekend and stay in a nearby B&B for a really lovely, foodie treat, there is loads to do in Cornwall.

 

Many thanks to Etheringtons for treating Mr R and myself to a really fantastic day.  As usual all opinions and photographs are my own.