Butcher

Charles J. Giunta Sr., 87, the third-generation owner of an Italian Market butcher shop that opened in the early 1900s and closed in the 1980s, died Wednesday, Aug. 22, of heart failure at his South Philadelphia home. The family at one time also owned a wholesale slaughterhouse in South Philadelphia and a pig farm in Deptford, Gloucester County, and in the 1980s spawned the butcher shops of two sons now in the Reading Terminal Market. Until this week, Mr. Giunta was a daily presence at the market, where son Charles operates Giunta's Prime Shop and son Martin runs Martin's Quality Meats & Sausages.

Finding an old-fashioned butcher is becoming a bit difficult, to say the least. Finding a good, old-fashioned butcher, one who ages his beef, makes his own sausage and cuts steaks as thick or as thin as you like, is even more difficult. But finding a butcher who has turned his trade into an art form is rare indeed. Henri Lapuyade is that rare breed of butcher. I have known Henri for years, as one knows an artist, through his work. In my opinion, Marcel et Henri makes the finest line of pates, terrines and galantines in America today.

Angela Chase, 18, in a pastel butterfly top and rhinestone glasses, doesn't look entirely comfortable wielding a giant bone saw over a bisected pig carcass. But on a recent Sunday, at a "Be Your Own Butcher" class at Wyebrook Farm in Chester County, instructor Janet Crandall coaxed Chase to use a smooth, confident, back-and-forth motion to cut through a bone. Tentatively, Chase worked the saw, struggling for a few long minutes as other students called out instructions and encouragement.

Wearing a white cotton apron marked with light pinkish smears, 29-year-old Dave Strommer hones the 8-inch knife across a sharpening steel. Deftly, he cuts a strip of sirloin tip into neat cubes, sweeping the meat into a pile nearby. "I'm making boeuf bourguignon," said Strommer, owner of Dave's Old Fashioned Butcher Shop, 362 West Lancaster Ave., Wayne. A blond, slim, mustachioed man, belying the caricature of an old, robust, gray-haired butcher, Strommer works to fill a customer's request.

RE CHRISTINE FLOWERS' op-ed on the execution of Saddam Hussein, "Justice was served": Ms. Flowers begins her justification for the "revenge" killing by discussing philosophical ideals - "And for a moment, the people of Iraq had a glimpse of hope. " She says "some cosmic balance had been restored. " She speaks of misguided mercy by the likes of the pope, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Then she finishes her article with her view that "Revenge might not be sweet.

Neil Coulter, whose longevity was attributed to his ability not to worry, died Sunday at the age of 108. Coulter, of Upper Darby, Delaware County, was raised on a farm near Milford, Del., and came to Philadelphia when he was about 15. He found work in neighborhood grocery stores on Woodland Avenue and eventually became a skilled butcher. His son, Richard Coulter, said that in his father's day, before the unions got organized, 72-hour work weeks were common and necessary to make a living wage.

Mario P. Donato, 81, of Willow Grove and formerly of Abington, a retired butcher who fought in several major World War II campaigns, including the Battle of the Bulge, died of cancer Saturday at Abington Memorial Hospital. Mr. Donato was born in Abington and graduated from Abington High School in 1937. During World War II, he served in the Army as a staff sergeant with the 80th Infantry Division. He was involved in fighting in the Ardennes and the Rhineland as well as the Battle of the Bulge.

Florence Zebrowski, 87, who along with her husband, Witold, owned and operated W. Zebrowski's Butchers & Grocers in Camden for 68 years, died Friday at Red Oak Manor at the Lakeland Health Complex in Gloucester Township. Shortly after they married, the Zebrowskis took over the butcher store from her parents, who started the business at the turn of the century, said Mrs. Zebrowski's grandson, Mark McEvoy. After her husband's death in 1963, Mrs. Zebrowski operated the store alone.

Neil Coulter, an Upper Darby butcher who worked long hours, enjoyed quiet time with his family and believed the secret to his longevity was his refusal to worry, died Monday at 108 years of age at Delaware County Memorial Hospital. Mr. Coulter had started in the food business as a teenager, moving to West Philadelphia from his home town of Milford, Del., and taking a job as a grocery boy. It wasn't long before he found his lifelong work as a butcher - a job he didn't quit until he was 78. "Years ago, he used to work all week long and come home with 10 or 15 dollars and a couple of pieces of meat," said his son, Richard.

  William Williams Keen Butcher, 97, of Chestnut Hill, CEO of the former Philadelphia brokerage firm Butcher & Singer and former chair of the Committee of Seventy public watchdog group, died at home Wednesday, May 15. A U.S. Army major who served in World War II, Mr. Butcher - who went by W.W. Keen - was a philanthropist and active member of the Republican Party at the national level who had U.S. presidents to his home for dinner. "I can think of several instances when we'd come home for dinner and the president would be there," said Noel Butcher Hanley, a daughter who lives in Bryn Mawr.

Angela Chase, 18, in a pastel butterfly top and rhinestone glasses, doesn't look entirely comfortable wielding a giant bone saw over a bisected pig carcass. But on a recent Sunday, at a "Be Your Own Butcher" class at Wyebrook Farm in Chester County, instructor Janet Crandall coaxed Chase to use a smooth, confident, back-and-forth motion to cut through a bone. Tentatively, Chase worked the saw, struggling for a few long minutes as other students called out instructions and encouragement.

The meat cases at Sonny D'Angelo's singular butcher shop were half-empty and a bit of a mess one day last week in the languor of postholiday Ninth Street. The lardo was buried under a slab of double-smoked bacon, and some sausage trays lacked for labels, though you could make out the hand-scrawled sign for a pumpkiny pork sausage (with bourbon and walnuts), a feature of one of his claims to fame - the meticulously artisan, labor-intensive, bread-free turducken. Business had been robust before New Year's, he said, with his seven-fishes sausage to make, his exotic game to pitch.

Charles J. Giunta Sr., 87, the third-generation owner of an Italian Market butcher shop that opened in the early 1900s and closed in the 1980s, died Wednesday, Aug. 22, of heart failure at his South Philadelphia home. The family at one time also owned a wholesale slaughterhouse in South Philadelphia and a pig farm in Deptford, Gloucester County, and in the 1980s spawned the butcher shops of two sons now in the Reading Terminal Market. Until this week, Mr. Giunta was a daily presence at the market, where son Charles operates Giunta's Prime Shop and son Martin runs Martin's Quality Meats & Sausages.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 4 slices bacon, chopped 1 yellow onion, chopped 1 teaspoon juniper berries 1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds 3 bay leaves 2 12-ounce bottles of lager, such as Spaten or Warsteiner 2 16-ounce cans sauerkraut 1 large smoked pork chop 2 links bratwurst 2 links bauernwurst or kielbasa   1. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. 2. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium heat and add the oil, bacon, and onion.

Craig LaBan: Mike Klein and I popped by this adorable little cart, Spot, to try their house-ground burgers, and cheesesteaks. They butcher the meat themselves from a big top round, pretty impressive for a place that's 6 feet long. They've got the system down pat, with someone taking orders beneath the shade of a red awning on the yellow cart, with a grill-master inside sizzling away at warp speed. You know they've got ambitions with ingredients like "mire-poix" (for the meatloaf) and an "Umami" signature burger (excellent, with pickled daikon, mushrooms, and gochujang)

WORKING WITH a savvy butcher has its advantages. "At a supermarket, you get what you get," said chef Derek Davis, owner of Derek's in Manayunk. Davis owned a boutique butcher shop, Main Line Prime, before the economy tanked. "If you want your steaks cut thick, your chicken boned, your roast tied, the butcher can do. It's all about the service. " Here's what a good butcher can do for you: 1. Save you money. That's right. While you may pay more per pound for some cuts, you'll be surprised at how competitive most butcher-shop prices are. And a good butcher can save you money by steering you toward cheaper cuts.

OLD-SCHOOL is always in session at G&M Market in Glendora, a South Jersey town not far from the Deptford Mall. Master butcher and raconteur Hank Mariotti just celebrated 55 years at the family-run business, an old-fashioned butcher shop and deli that still makes homemade sausage and grinds and cuts meat to order. For customers with no time to cook, beef and pork are roasted fresh daily for sandwiches, and the hoagies and sandwiches are some of the best around. As he approaches his 80th birthday, Mariotti, who co-owns the business with his son Gary, still works seven days a week.

MILWAUKEE - A woman who faked a pregnancy and panicked as her supposed due-date grew near attacked a pregnant mother with a baseball bat and cut her full-term fetus from her womb with an X-Acto knife, killing the mother and baby, according to court documents filed yesterday. Annette Morales-Rodriguez, 33, faces two counts of first-degree homicide in the deaths of Maritza Ramirez-Cruz and the boy she was set to deliver next week. Morales-Rodriguez made a brief court appearance yesterday, standing silent as her bail was set at $1 million.

SLO, Norway - Anders Behring Breivik said he was a boy when his life's path began to turn. It was during the first Gulf War, when a Muslim friend cheered at reports of missile attacks against American forces. "I was completely ignorant at the time and apolitical but his total lack of respect for my culture (and Western culture in general) actually sparked my interest and passion for it," Breivik, 32, the suspect in Norway's bombing and mass shooting wrote in his 1,500-page manifesto.