Traditional Butcher

F

festerfromnzed

Joined
Aug 18, 2008
Messages
2,516
My work takes me to very isolated rural communities all over New Zealand.Last week i headed into town to get myself a nice piece of steak for dinner (special occasion).The local butcher shop is on the quiet side of town,and i arrived just as he was packing up the front window to close shop for the night.I helped him pack up his produce and then he asked me what i wanted.."Id like a couple of pieces of aged steak please,I dont care what the cut is as long as its good".He came back from the chiller with a fine piece of porterhouse steak,and while he cut it up i introduced myself..Within 5 minutes he told me that this butchery had been in his family for over 100 years and that he collected pocket knives..I must add that this gentleman is in his mid 70,s and his surname is YOUNG...I pulled out my edc slippys,and he was most impressed with the 2010 Moose and my John Lloyd, that i ALWAYS carry..He commented that they were beatifully made knives,which made me smile....Another couple of minutes of knife related banter passed and he said "come out the back,ive something you may like"...Well, inside this dark cobweb infested old store room was an absolute treasure trove of old butchery equipment...knives,steels,stones ,lamb splitters,chopping blocks ,old scales etc etc...I did not enter the room as i was not invited to do so,but my eyes were taking in an awful lot of history..He fossicked around for a minute,then handed me this beautiful old steel and said "this should scrub up okay?,It belonged to my father,oh and you realise you have to give me a coin for this?.....I left that shop 20 minutes later with my steak and steel, wondering just how much of this old school generosity is left in our fast paced rat race world....I was extremely grateful to be the man he chose to give something so special to.I will be returning to that little town next week with a nice slipjoint for him as a thank you......It was my 47th birthday.........FES

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Just imagine what this rock would be like if that type of kindness was commonplace.

Happy Belated Birthday.
 
Great story! Happy Birthday!
That is a very nice looking steel too, lots of character to it :thumbup:
 
Thanks to you all for the kind comments..It is indeed a lovely old steel,and was a very enriching experience to have met this generous man..Still smiling!!!.........FES
 
Yeah Fes this is a great thing to hear about. Thanks for sharing it with us. It cheered me up.

I can't wait to hear the man's reaction when you give him one of your knives.

Kevin
 
Man, what a great guy! Thanks for sharing, Fes. That is a nice looking steel. Is it as smooth as it looks in the pictures?
Oh, and how was the porterhouse?

Ken
 
Kbrasmodeler said:
Man, what a great guy! Thanks for sharing, Fes. That is a nice looking steel. Is it as smooth as it looks in the pictures?
Oh, and how was the porterhouse?

Ken
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Yes KEN. the handle is ebony i believe? and feels warm to the touch...and the porterhouse was superbly marbeled and hung for a month..you dont get much better than that ........FES
 
Awesome story, happy birthday! Looks like the iron ring on end was for a belt hook to keep steel at hand?

I have worked around some modern butchers who wear a rig with knife and steel slung on a chain belt, looks similar.
 
gruntmedik said:
Just imagine what this rock would be like if that type of kindness was commonplace.
Click to expand...

If the rest of the world was like the Trad forum, we'd never get anything done because someone would always be giving away a car or a house or a boat, etc, etc. :D

Happy bday Fez. Now I want a steak.
 
medicevans said:
If the rest of the world was like the Trad forum, we'd never get anything done because someone would always be giving away a car or a house or a boat, etc, etc. :D

Happy bday Fez. Now I want a steak.
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HaaaHaaaaa!...i could learn to like it like that!...thank you..........FES
 
Hey there Fes, that is a very cool story, I actually HATE buying meat in the big department stores, and I noted the other day-( as I am still new to this area ) that I have a little local Butcher shop as well in amongst 6 shops just around the corner of my house!! ....so I pledged to buy my meat from there-be it a bit dearer, I too think our New Zealand small Butcher shops are iconic and one day they will be driven by the big boys to close those Traditional doors and we will never see service like you experienced, and it seems as though he saw the same guy as I do-a damned good guy - so happy birthday my friend.
That looks to be Ebony for sure-now...would they be Pewter strips?...and have you looked to see any markings on that lovely old Steel?
 
I couldnt agree more Duncan (about the supporting your local butcher bit)......and thank you for the kind words too friend....Yup,heres the marks for ya.........FES

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Awesome, this is the kind of thing I live for. Some genuine human connection and real generosity! Happy Belated Birthday Fes!
 
I enjoyed that. Thanks for the post.
 
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