Care to “meet your meat” before eating? At Outer Banks resort The Sanderling in Duck, North Carolina, you can. In keeping with the resort’s culinary philosophy of S.O.A.L. food, or utilizing sustainable, organic, artisanal and local ingredients, they are opening their kitchens for the first time to help interested foodies learn the art of butchering.
With the help of a 30-year butchering veteran, German Master Butcher Frank Meusel, guests will learn the art of breaking down whole animals with a focus on primal cuts. Held once per month from November through February, guests will experience steer, hog, lamb and veal butchering experiences (meat varies depending on month).
For $325 per night, guests will enjoy hands-on butchering lessons at the nearby Weeping Radish Farm (also home to North Carolina’s oldest microbrewery), cooking lessons including emulsion and smoking techniques, and an additional class on how to make hot dogs and sausages.
The package includes a lunch of house-made charcuterie and the farm’s own microbrews, plus a private farm tour from owner Uli Bennewitz. Once guests return to the resort, a three-course dinner will be served family-style at The Left Bank, the resort’s signature restaurant and the area’s only Four Diamond dining destination. Dishes will be prepared in the restaurant’s show kitchen and are inspired by the meats guests helped prepare earlier that day.
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