Meat Of Known Origin (MOKO) In Boston Right Now

It's easier than it used to be. Here are some thoughts:

• First of all, from now through December 24, Stillman's is selling MOKO five days a week SEVEN DAYS A WEEK (updated) at the Downtown Crossing Holiday Market. Show up and choose from what they brought, or call them ahead of time at 413-477-0345 if you have a special request!
  
  
• All winter long you can get MOKO from Austin Farms every Monday; for details see JJ Gonson's Cuisine En Locale blog.
  
  
• Any time you want, you can go to Lionette's Market on Tremont Street in Boston.

And if you want a fabulous MOKO t-shirt, you can even get that, too, from the Boston Localvores website!

Downtown Crossing Holiday Market

If you are in Boston this season, you can visit the Downtown Crossing Holiday Market, located (in a big tent!) on Summer Street at Downtown Crossing from now through December 24th. Hours are Monday through Saturday 11AM-7PM and Sunday 12PM-6PM.

Why visit?

There are farmers and food producers offering a variety of excellent food and horticultural goods, including great local vegetables and fruits from Keown Orchards, delicious breads from When Pigs Fly, fabulous lillies from Stow Greenhouses, and one-of-a-kind Dessert Hummus from Crazy Camel. There are also booths selling the other sorts of things you might expect at a holiday market, including jewelry, pottery, candles, and the like.

The vendor I was most excited to see was Stillman's, a leading Massachusetts purveyor of Meat Of Known Origin (MOKO). Stillman's will be at the market five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday, until December 24th.

So it will be easier than ever to get Meat Of Known Origin in Boston this holiday season!

Note: The Downtown Crossing Holiday Market is being run by the Boston Public Market Association, in coordination with the Boston Redevelopment Authority. I am on the board of the BPMA. I don't benefit personally from any money you might spend at the Holiday Market.

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Imagine if there were an indoor, year-round, seven-days-a-week local food market serving the Boston area, so that farmers and food producers like Stillman's, Keown, and Stow could easily sell their products directly to their customers.

I think this would be great, for many reasons. Here are a few: Greater availability of real food could increase the health and happiness of folks in the Boston area; it could also attract more good restaurants to the Boston area. A year-round market would make it easier for buyers to find what they needed, and easier for sellers to predict demand.  Cutting out the intermediaries would allow food producers to build relationships with their customers, sell at a better price, and take home more money for themselves. And so on.

The Boston Public Market Association's goal is to create such a market. If this vision appeals to you, please support us.

Stillman's Farm Meat-Up

Last Saturday, March 14, I attended the latest Stillman's Farm meat-up in Central Square. They appeared in a parking lot with a freezer full of farm-raised, grass-fed meat and naturally-raised poultry, and opened shop for an hour or so. I'd had their lamb several times before, and I was eager to buy some. Their lamb chops are the best I have had in recent memory. (My memory is spotty, but I always remember a good lamb chop.) Their ground lamb is exceptional, and I got some of that, too. Beyond that, I got some pork butt (which is known as "country-style ribs" when you cut it up). This I plan on slow-cooking; maybe I'll braise it in kombucha. I got some ground beef, which is an entirely different animal from the grocery-store variety—literally. For anyone who likes their hamburgers even a little rare, I think MOKO ground beef is a must. And I got some nice-looking T-bone steaks for my friend. I recommend their meat highly. They offer a meat CSA for folks who want a steady source of meat, at a 20% cost savings. I should add that last Thanksgiving, I got a 22-lb. heritage turkey from Stillman's. My mom and I brined it and roasted it to general acclaim. It was moist, tender, and very flavorful; the skin was crisp and delicious. Some of our eaters said it was the best turkey they had ever had. We can take some of the credit for having prepared it well, but Stillman gets the majority of the credit. I don't intend to go back to Butterball. (For some fun stories about turkeys, including stories about their sex lives, check out Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.) [Photos: Van O' Meat; Bag O' Meat; and Happy Customer (that's my mom on the left!)]