Young woman makes name as star butcher

One young butcher is making a name for herself in the meat business, as Sarah Todd discovers

Commenting on a woman doing a traditionally man’s job is a minefield, but it would take a politically correct heart-of-stone not to be interested in Charlotte Harbottle’s story. She’s only 25, but already owns her own butcher’s shop.

Charlotte was studying theology at York University when she took a part-time job in a butcher’s shop. She was supposed to be behind the counter serving customers and taking their money, but she was soon enthralled by what was going on in the back room – preparing the meat.

After graduating, she moved to London and worked in an office but “soon got bored” and gave in to her true vocation, working at a butcher’s in Knightsbridge, as well as the well-known C Lidgate in Holland Park.

“Although it was hard, this time working in London was very useful,” explains Charlotte. “I worked with butchers from all over the world – countries such as Poland, New Zealand and Brazil – and they had so many different techniques to learn from. A lot of British butchers are only interested in the old ways; whereas other countries have a lot of faster ways of preparing meat and much less waste. If you look at a French diagram of a beef animal, they have about 20 additional cuts to our traditional way of doing things.”

Homeward bound

She returned home to her North East roots and continued her training before, last year, opening Charlotte’s Butchery in Gosforth.

She has since found out that her great, great grandfather was a butcher. Growing up in suburban Newcastle she had some farmers in the family and a connection with the industry in that her mother is an agricultural consultant. Her father works in communications and her husband, Tony, is a dog trainer.

“My family has been a great help,” says Charlotte. “Practical things like banking the money and them doing some local deliveries for me make a huge difference when I’m busy in the shop.”

While some of her customers in London wanted to know every detail “right down to what the animal had for breakfast the day it was slaughtered” Charlotte has found her own level.

“Yes, rare breed beef tastes wonderful, but I have to face facts that most of my customers wouldn’t spend that amount of money. What I value instead is solid farming techniques and local provenance.”

The beef in Charlotte’s shop is Limousin-cross and comes from Ken Coates’s farm in Hamsterley, County Durham.

Pork, too, is from County Durham and is a Duroc cross. She uses Texel lamb, also from County Durham, and prefers the smaller ones; finding them more tender. The poultry comes from Heathcote Farm in Cumbria. She uses Thompson’s abattoir in nearby Witton-le-Weir.

“In an ideal world all butchers would have an understanding of farming. A lot haven’t got a clue, which can’t be a good thing.”
Charlotte Harbottle

“I really value Mark Thompson’s beady eye for the best beast going,” says Charlotte, who has spent some time teaching butchers how to read cow tags.

“In an ideal world all butchers would have an understanding of farming. A lot haven’t got a clue, which can’t be a good thing.

“If a butcher isn’t going to cook a piece of meat then many aren’t bothered about it. They can get engrossed in it looking good in the shop window; rather than the really important thing – what it’s going to taste like when it’s cooked.”

Award winner

It’s not just Charlotte’s customers who rate her. She has scooped a prestigious Young British Foodie Award.

She wowed the judges – Meat Liquor’s Yianni Papoutsis, John-Paul Habermann of the acclaimed Franconian Sausage Company, and John Cadieux of Goodman steak fame – with her peppery black pudding spiced with cayenne pepper, tomato and Tabasco.

Perhaps because of her father’s background in communications, Charlotte has been quick to grasp the nettle of social networking. As The Girl Butcher she has quite a following on Twitter and is regularly contacted by women thinking of a career in butchery.

“I now have an apprentice, Amelia, and I’m taking on a girl from America – who has been sponsored to spend three months with me – next year. I would like to set up a guild of women butchers so there is a proper network for advice and support in place. I also feel strongly that there is no governing body for butchery. This seems irresponsible.”

The proof’s in the black pudding

Charlotte describes a typical day as starting at 5.30am.

“I set my counter up and do jobs like making sausages, curing bacon or making black pudding,” she says.

The shop then opens at 8am and she carries on creating joints, cutting chops and doing other jobs between serving customers; until the doors shut at 5pm. Then, of course, there’s plenty of cleaning-up to do before she can go home.

Job satisfaction comes when a customer returns to the shop and says how much they enjoyed eating what they bought.

“It’s also great if I can help them choose a cut of meat that they wouldn’t normally have.

“For example, some people think they can’t afford steak. It’s a joy to introduce them to cheaper – but still fantastically tasty – cuts such as corner cut rump and flat iron.”

Away from the butcher’s shop Charlotte enjoys eating out and, one day, would like to write a book about meat and cooking it.

“The idea of a chain of shops doesn’t really appeal to me,” says Charlotte. “It would be difficult to keep the essence of my butchery being a destination; a tailored place to shop. Way, way in the future it would be great to have some kind of eating establishment.”

More on this topic