Of the many personalities that regularly appear in my podcast feeds, Dr. Bill Schindler | Eat Like a Human seems to be one of those most grounded in a historical perspective. His approach to food, how it has been found, prepared, and consumed, and the role of tools in this process just makes a ton of sense to me. It also helps that his speaking style is devoid of much of the over-the-top claims (typically without evidence) that is found with other speakers. So when I realized he is reasonably close, has created the Eastern Shore Food Lab (ESFL) & Modern Stone Age Kitchen (MSAK), and offers classes, I’d been looking for an opportunity to try something new.
This weekend we took the opportunity to have a totally different family experience. We headed out to Chestertown, MD (home of Washington College) and stayed in an Airbnb for the weekend so we could attend a Nose to Tail Butchering Experience as a family. Believe it or not, Hillary was all in for the experience as a bit of a birthday present. Plus, DJ came away with a new perspective on the modern food system and what a butcher actually does.
To give a sense of the weekend, we arrived Friday night, were served salad and pizza and given a basic introduction to Dr. Schindler’s background in anthropology, the half pig was “introduced” to the class, and we worked together to process it into the large primal cuts. Then we regrouped on Saturday to process it further, cutting pork chops, bacon, ham, and learning how to use all the other parts including head, organs, and skin. Each participant departed Saturday afternoon with their own container of scrappel we had made during the class.
Sidebar…
In discussing more about the most memorable trips over the past 26 years, we realized that for Hillary at least, some of the most memorable involved food! This realization is helping us look for new and unique food opportunities — like a cooking class in a converted food stand, a private dining experience with Chef in Panama City, and of course a butchering class.
What makes Dr. Schindler, MSAK and ESFL special? And what were we thrilled that DJ came away learning? In a nutshell, our modern food system is really messed up. The human body has evolved to get the most nutrients from meat and fish. Plants don’t want to be eaten and they all have toxins that either kill us outright or, in enough quantity, lead to long term health impacts (see Oxalates). Humans long ago developed technology to get the most out of the food we eat. This technology includes fire and stone tools but also process to ferment, sprout, and (word of the day here) nixtamalize plants and seeds to remove the toxins and make more of the nutrients available to us.
MSAK and ESFL were an outgrowth of Dr. Schindler’s time as an anthropologist, university teacher at Washington College, and many trips abroad to learn about old and often nearly forgotten methods for processing and preparing real food. MSAK in particular makes all food from scratch with no seed oils, very minimal (and unprocessed sugar when it is used), and lots of lard. You can’t get much better than what they have to offer.
After class on Saturday we wanted to have DJ experience a bit more of what the Eastern Shore has to offer. So we drove about 20 minutes over to Waterman’s Crab House in Rock Hall, MD. Nestled right on the water it was a great spot to hang out for a bit and enjoy some some seafood. Mussels and clams for Hillary and I and a shimp, scallop, and crab meat over pasta dish for DJ.
Sunday Morning we got up early (as is normal) and breezed across the Bay Bridge, up to Rt 70, and across to Frederick where we did a quick 7.5 mile hike in Gambrill State Park. After 5 days of rain it was a bit slick here and there but we had lots to talk about….