Mares Eat Oats and Does Eat Oats and Little Lambs Get Eaten

How I felt yesterday. 

Yesterday we went to the less than imaginatively named Westerly Packing to buy some lamb. When we drove up, I could have sworn I was in Winter Park at Lombardi's fish market, a great place to buy fish and other seafood related odds and ends, so I was already set up for it to be a good experience. To put it mildly, it was.

There was no fresh lamb, because, Sammy's son said, not so many people eat lamb anymore and they like their meat to be fresh. He helped us select some frozen lamb chops (American lamb, by the way). There were two in a package, even though it looked like one, so we bought a few extra, thinking they would be too small. They weren't. More on that soon. 

Lorraine took me on a walkabout of the store, which is like a mini Costco's. Giant cans and bottles of everything from hot peppers to cleaning products, restaurant sized selections of cheeses, anchovies and...by now I was drooling; it was embarrassing. 

It seemed a good time to ask about the prosciutto at home and Sammy and son did not disappoint with suggestions and advice. By then I was beyond drooling, I was in love again with yet another older man whose passion for his life and love for his family was pretty well tattooed on his face. He took us back to the hanging room to show us his own prosciutto as well as a local sausage called supie. They make 300 pounds of it a day and sell a lot of it seven days a week.

Sammy's prosciutto and supie. 

 The supie comes in four flavors; hot, extra hot, mild and sweet. After hearing and seeing so much, a sale was a done deal. The hot was all gone, so we bought the mild. We haven't tasted it yet, but Sammy says it's great just as is with crackers, or fixed like his wife makes it, in a soup. Which makes sense...

Sammy bought the store from his wife's father in 1978 and hasn't quit making improvements yet.

His son was a bit reluctant to be in the photo, but afterward said, "That one's a keeper." Indeed.

This is the sausage making machine. Well, one of them. A staff of 14 is kept busy all week, but this was Sunday. The floors were clean enough to eat from and there was NO 'meat small' in there. I consider that a biggie.

There was a long aisle of just pastas. And another of sauces. A half aisle of various olive oils. Droolable, I'm telling you. But eventually we got out of there, Lorraine incredibly patient with my rather round about way of shopping, and headed home. Sammy said, just put those chops in water, 30 minutes they'll be thawed. We did and they did. 

Jim was on for cooking the lamb chops, which was sort of like handing over your child to a friend you know, but not real well, you just trust for the best. Well, it turned out the chops were at least an inch thick and the size of a medium fist. The trust level had to go up exponentially, and was well rewarded. They were truly some of the best lamb chops I had ever had, which was pretty much the opinion of the cook and crew, two of whom weren't really fond of lamb. Except in this case where gnawing on the bone was going on at every plate.

Pre-gnawing stage

This is a review that tells you all the things I didn't. If you are in the area, check it out. 


The people working here could not be more knowledgeable, friendly and helpful to my wife and I. But we go here for the MEAT. They get their meat from local farmers. None of the China beef here. This meat is FRESH.

They also make their own meatball mixture, ground sausage, sausage in casing, and a hard pepperoni like meat called supi (from mild to hot).

They have some basic food supplies like a small local market would. But they also have a restaurant supply section in another part of the building that everyone can purchase from (best price on 30 gal of peanut oil).

We travel a ways to get here but it's worth it for the fresh meat. Oh, and I almost forgot. The prices are really good, about same as BJ's Wholesale Club or better. And the butchers will do just about anything you ask. [edit. note: resist bad humor here]


Have a meet a stranger Monday! Do something slightly mischievous.