Lamb Ragu
This amazing dish is sure to be an impressive crowd-pleaser on a chilly winter evening.
MORE THAN MEATS THE EYE
5th Quarter, Waitsfield
Inspired by History
It’s not how the cuts look, though, that is most important to Josh. It’s how they taste, the meat’s deliciousness. To ensure what can only be assumed by sight, Josh starts with animals that have been humanely raised.
Our first stop was at the 5th Quarter in Waitsfield, where Josh Turka is the owner and butcher. Josh’s philosophy for selling meat—and the name of his shop—is derived from quinto quarto, a historical term well known in Rome that relates to how a butchered animal’s meat was doled out. The first quarter, the best cuts, was given to nobility, the second to clergy, the third to the bourgeois, and the fourth to the army.
“The poor people,” Josh says, “would get the offal, the tongue, the tripe, whatever was left. They jokingly referred to it as the fifth quarter, and they made historically famous world cuisine out of it.”
The term stuck with Josh. Eventually, he opened 5th Quarter as a wholesale whole-animal butchery and worked part time at Mad River Taste Place in Waitsfield. At one point, Josh floated the idea of opening a butcher shop within the store. Mary Tuthill, the manager, and Robin Morris, the owner, saw the benefit to both businesses and said yes.
5th Quarter’s meat case is filled with rib eye and chuck roast, aged to a deep red that almost seems purple, marbled pork shoulder, meaty chops, and various sausages. It’s not how they look, though, that is most important to Josh. It’s how they taste, the meat’s deliciousness. To ensure what can only be assumed by sight, Josh starts with animals that have been humanely raised. He notes, “We partner with farmers who raise their animals on pasture so they can walk around and live life like they should, farmers who care for the animals when they are sick, but don’t give hormones or antibiotics.”
That morning, Josh received a recently slaughtered pig from a local farm. He explains that the animal’s diet consisted of whey created during cheesemaking, edible scraps from local restaurants and businesses, and apples and squash from nearby farms. The pig is hyperlocal, and Josh notes that its hyperlocal diet “keeps things out of landfills and compost heaps.”
Josh Turka puts his whole-animal butchery skills to good use at 5th Quarter.
:House-made sausages and charcuterie tempt shoppers at 5th Quarter within the Mad River Taste Place in Waitsfield.
Pork is easier to have on hand because Josh brings in several pigs each week. He uses the whole animal, of course, including the jowls for guanciale, a cut that tastes like pork-belly-derived pancetta.
Josh has turned the scarcity of some cuts of beef into an opportunity to educate his customers. “We try to get people to think in terms of cooking style. If you want a skirt steak, you’re really looking for a thin, flavorful steak. If we don’t have skirt steak, we’ll have flank steak, we’ll have bavette steak, top round cap, or merlot.” The ubiquitous butcher-shop image of a cow partitioned like a map offers no clues about where these cuts come from. But Josh knows, and he knows how good they taste.
Josh understands that 5th Quarter and whole-animal butchery may not be familiar to everyone. When some people want hanger steak, they want hanger steak and nothing else, but shoppers with an open mind are rewarded with the chance to try something new and delicious. Josh sees his work at the shop as an educational experience and an opportunity to be more than just a butcher. “Our customers feed their families, feed their friends,” Josh says. “They chat with us, and let us be a center point of the local community.”
Mad River Taste Place, Waitsfield: Specialty foods from Vermont (and beyond)
Sip, sample, and savor the best of Vermont at Waitsfield’s Mad River Taste Place.
While visitors aren’t likely to pack a pork loin in their luggage for the trip home, they don’t have to leave the building that houses 5th Quarter and the Mad River Taste Place empty-handed. Just a few paces from the butcher, the building opens up, and so do the possibilities for both visitors and locals.
The Mad River Taste Place carries Vermont’s big three—cheese, beer, and maple syrup —in abundance. And although Mary Tuthill, General Manager of Mad River Taste Place, strives to represent Vermont in everything the shop sells, she knows there is more to the culinary world than the exceptional products this state produces. “If it is something that Vermont just doesn’t make, I’ll bring in what I feel is best in terms of quality.”
There are wineries in Vermont, so you’ll find Vermont wines in the shop. But you’ll also find wines from other regions of the country and the world. The same goes for the cheese and the beer, organized in the cooler by type—stouts, IPAs, light ales, and more. For people who want to experiment, some beers are sold as single cans. Grab three or four different brands of the same type of beer and have a beer-tasting party for friends at home.
With spirits from Mad River Distillers to start the meal, olives and crackers and cheeses for appetizers, mustards and honeys to prepare your cuts of meat, a perfectly paired wine, coffees and teas for after dinner, and dessert, Mary notes, that along with 5th Quarter and “with the exception of produce, you can build a meal’s worth of food from here.”
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