Kari Underly grew up in a family of butchers,
But that didn’t make it any easier for her when she decided to get into the business. Her grandparents ran a butcher shop, and her dad had one, too, though it closed as supermarkets started to dominate the grocery business. By the time Underly decided to try her hand at butchery, it was an act of desperation: She needed a job in order to pay for college. The all-male butcher crew at her first job gave her the silent treatment, and one coworker even threw a knife at her. But Underley stuck with it, and eventually she moved out of the meat locker and into the corporate side of the meat industry, helping to develop and promote new cuts of meat including the Denver cut and the flatiron steak. Wiley published her book “The Art of Beef Cutting” last year. Underly is now a consultant, but she keeps her knife skills fresh; check out this aweomse video in which she breaks down an entire side of beef. She spoke with me recently about why she thinks women make the best butchers, how butchers became cool, and the incredibly satisfying story of how she got revenge on that knife-throwing colleague back in the meat cooler.
How did you first get interested in becoming a butcher? Was it just because of your family history?
Survival. It was honestly just that. I started college, but I ran out of money two years into it. … So I was working in a grocery store in South Bend, Indiana, as a stocker and wrapper. The meat cutters were making $2 to $4 more an hour, and that was significant. I said, “I want to do that!”
You weren’t exactly welcomed by the guys in the meat department.
When I said I wanted to do it they looked at me like I was crazy. They suggested I work in the deli, or in the office, but those jobs didn’t pay as much. This was in the late 80s. When I did become apprenticed, guys would refuse to teach me. I would walk into the meat room and no one would acknowledge me. You’re a young woman just trying to do a good job and put your way through college, so that was tough.
I read that one of them actually threw a knife at you?
I don’t even remember why he was so upset. There’s this thing when you’re in the meat shop and you have a problem, you go into the cooler. That’s where the shouting matches happen. So I went in and turned around [getting ready to have it out], and he threw a knife right at me. It sliced into a box. He was comfortable with his accuracy, but still…
Did you tell anyone at the time?
I was afraid to! What if he didn’t miss the next time? And his direct report wasn’t a huge fan of mine either. You know, I grew up with Wonder Woman and the Bionic Woman as my mentors. I didn’t know! I thought that lasso was real! Long story short, they put me in the smallest volume store, because a girl couldn’t handle a larger store. I worked my way through college, through the store, ended up on the corporate side, and became all of their bosses.
Have things changed in the years you’ve been in the industry?
Recently I was in a plant in Pennsylvania — in a packing house, which is where most of the jobs are now. There are some grocery stores jobs, but the majority are in packing houses. And half of the people on the floor were women! You haven’t seen that before. And it’s fun because now I get to teach them. I feel like I helped blaze the trail for some of these folks, because it’s not so rough and tough now. And women are stronger than they were years ago, too. They’re not afraid to get in there and work.
It seems like butchery has also gotten this cool cred within the last few years. The New York Times compares butchers to rock stars, and it seems like the small butcher shop is on its way back.
Where did that come from?
I think if you talk to some of the hard core old butchers about that, they laugh. It’s just their livelihood. What I think happened is the economy. Chefs had to get creative about getting food costs down. One way to do that is to buy the whole animal, but then you have to use it all, and to do that you need skills. So that has helped to bring the art of butchery to the forefront … and also people are looking to make different decisions about food. They want to buy local, which also means meat, so they have to be able to get the meat locally. That’s been helping to spur on these new butcher shops. I’m ok with the celebrity component. For one, we need jobs. And second, I like the idea of the having the small local shop on the corner, and you can talk to that person — he or she.
Do you think women make better butchers than men?
I do. It’s about detail, nurturing, and grounding. Men tend to — there are some very good men butchers — but women have more finesse, makes sure it looks pretty, with more nurturing care. Guys are more about production: How much can I get done? It’s about might vs. finesse.
