M.F. Dulock Manager Answers 11 Questions

Since opening in September of 2012, M.F. Dulock Pasture-Raised Meats has made a name for itself as a full-service butcher that provides high quality local meat. It sources all its animals from farms within 250 miles of Somerville, and it's been featured in Boston Magazine and the Boston Globe, among other places.

We stopped in recently and had a brief conversation with Maureen Gaffney, the manager:

Somerville Patch: With Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up, is this a busy time of year?

Gaffney: "All these family holidays are big eating events ... I suppose Turkey's popular around Thanksgiving time, right? And beef roasts are more popular next month."

Somerville Patch: What's the most popular cut of meat you sell?

Gaffney: "I think our sausages are the most popular items right here."

Somerville Patch: If you took some sausages home, how would you prepare them?

Gaffney: "Probably just with some onions and peppers."

Somerville Patch: Do you sell any crazy types of meat?

Gaffney: "Not really, we kind of just cover the major bases. We don't take anything really exotic. I suppose just heads, in general, are an exotic sell … lamb and goat."

Somerville Patch: How would you prepare a lamb or goat head?

Gaffney: "They're good [for] stewing or roasting."

Somerville Patch: Do you butcher everything on site?

Gaffney: "Yes, we do."

Somerville Patch: Do the carcasses come in back?

Gaffney: "Yep. We bring in little animals and store them in the cooler here."

Somerville Patch: How do you keep your knives sharp?

Gaffney: "We hone them several times every day … we also use a knife sharpening company, and those get sent out every couple of weeks."

Somerville Patch: Are there secrets to making sure you use knives safely?

Gaffney: "Don't cut toward yourself is the number one rule."

Somerville Patch: Over the summer, Europe had a horse meat scandal (where meat labeled as beef contained horse). What do you think of horse meat?

Gaffney: "I've never had it, but I've heard good things about it" ...  "[People eat it] not so far away, too.  Montreal's big on horse meat."

Somerville Patch: How could Somerville make things easier for small businesses?

Gaffney: "I think they do a pretty good job. There's a lot of functions around. The streets are always closed in this neighborhood for block parties and all kinds of things. I think Somerville does a better job than lots of towns."

M.F. Dulock Pasture-Raised Meats is at 201a Highland Ave. Its phone number is (617) 666-1970.