A CUT ABOVE THE REST
WORDS Kim Newth PHOTOS Sarah Rowlands
Keeping an eye on what’s cooking on shows like Master Chef is all part of the job if you’re in the frontline of the fast-paced retail meat trade. In his many years as Merivale Fresh Choice Butchery and Seafood Manager, Stu Donnell has noticed that demand for particular items often ebbs and flows in line with high rating culinary programmes.
“One week, everyone will want rib eye on the bone, and then Jamie Oliver might bring out something new, and it is shanks that are selling fast. I try to keep up with the cooking shows, but in fact, we carry such a massive range that 90 per cent of the time we’ll have it here anyway, and we’re always busy creating new products.”
Whether shopping for the slow cooker, smoker, barbecue or a quick oven-ready option, there are always plenty of choices available from ‘The Merivale Grocer’ in-store brand. From koftas, kebabs, sausages, swirls, rollups, and wraps, to gourmet stuffed brisket, pork belly, lamb shanks, silverside, premium steak, and organic chicken, the meat range is not only extensive but also impeccably presented. Quality seafood is also sourced fresh from local fish markets every day.
Stu started his butchery career as a fresh-faced Shirley Boys’ High school leaver. He was taken on as an apprentice in the Merivale retail butchery, entering as a clean-up boy and gradually working his way up. “I’ve always enjoyed the humour that comes with this line of work – the banter has always been there; it’s a lot of fun every day.”
Today, Stu leads a team of 10, including two apprentices. Presenting meat for retail here involves so much more than slicing. Stu loves training young people in the finer art of butchery. That means, for example, showing them how to work with a whole pig carcass, de-boning it and processing the pork for sale in various forms, including sausages. The same goes for lamb and beef, with everything done the traditional way. The butchery team makes a range of authentic old-style sausages every week, from Dry Age Jalapeño and Cheese to Wagyu and White Pepper and Green Thai Coconut Duck.
“I encourage the apprentices to learn how to cook the meat they’re presenting and to eat it, so they know what to tell the customer. For example, one who asks, ‘What does Beef Wellington taste like?’ It’s a great education for them here.”
Stu and his team enjoy spending as much time as they can with customers.
“We love getting them excited about what they’ll be cooking that night or on the weekend.”
Deliciously tender steak, created on-site in a temperature-controlled Dry Aged Meat Chamber, is a very popular choice. Stu says the chamber, which features a wall made of imported pink Himalayan salt blocks, is used to age fresh rib eye, T-bone steak, and pork belly. Customers can buy meat for the salt room and decide how long to age it, or alternatively buy dry-aged meat direct from the Fresh Choice Merivale retail butchery.
Another very popular option with customers is Black Origin Wagyu beef, known as the Rolls Royce of beef. It’s rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, tender, and juicy – for beef connoisseurs, this is the ultimate.
“The taste and texture are absolutely beautiful.”