It's the summer of American Wagyu ribeye over the fire and premium spiced salami on a charcuterie board.
Sarah Rense
A couple years back, we declared that befriending a butcher was the power move of the summer. Always sound advice. The thing is, building an interpersonal relationship with a stranger right now is about as advised as flying on an airplane without a mask and a gallon of Purell. Which is why we're amending our statement for 2020 to the following: Become familiar with a high-quality online source of mail-delivered meat. It doesn't have quite the same ring to it, we know. But if your wine bottles, rare (or not so rare) spirits, meal boxes, loose pantry ingredients, fresh seafood, supply of progressively loosening lounge clothing, and who knows what else can make their way to your front door, so can fresh (or preserved) carnivore delights.
This summer in isolation need not be defined by refrigerated six-packs of hot dogs, frozen burger patties from last Memorial Day, and halfhearted attempts to grill mushrooms as if they were once bloody. The meat shortages may be coming to your supermarkets and big box warehouse club, but it won't have too much of an effect in the realm of high-end butchery, just yet. The following are 14 importers, family-run farms, and butcher shops that ship cuts of meat across the country—be it farm-raised ground beef, cured salamis, or Wagyu steaks that need just a brief turn on a skillet or grill to crisp up that beautifully marbled fat. There's not a wrong choice among them.
La Tienda ("the store," for those of you who didn't graduate with five Spanish language credits) imports its meat directly from Spain, where you might say meat is best cured and preserved. Specifically, look for salty ribbons of jamón, spiced chorizo sausage, and even the entire bone-in leg of a pig from which to shave paper-thin slices of meat, just like they do at the cafés lining the twisty streets of Madrid. Do your other grocery shopping here too, where a selection of Spanish olive oils, canned fish, and goat cheese will complete your vacation on a platter.
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