Midway Butchers – A cut above the rest

‘Our ingredients are highly secret.’

Vincentians “love” eating meat. Some persons like meat so much that they find it quite challenging to eat the other dishes on their plate if meat is not a part of the menu.

But there is one major challenge. Meat lovers often have difficulty finding decent cuts of meat at local butcher stalls.{{more}}

At Midway Butchers, a meat shop that operates along the main road at Grand Gate, Lowmans Leeward, they guarantee that your expectations will be met. This shop is operated by professional butchers Richard and Joe Gibson, who originate from Campden Park. Since October 2007, the duo have been bringing international standards that they acquired in the United Kingdom to St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

In 1999, after spending close to 40 years in the United Kingdom, the brothers, who owned several butchering establishments, sold them and returned to St.Vincent and the Grenadines.

A set of freshly made beef burgers, sometimes called beef patties.

They specialise in sausages, beef burgers, pork, ground beef, meat for barbecue and beef.

Sausages? Yes, they make traditional butcher sausages. For this interview, the brothers demonstrated to SEARCHLIGHT how sausages are made. The sausage meat was placed into a manual sausage filler, and as Richard milled away, the meat filled the treated pig intestine at the other end of the machine to form the sausage.

The brothers also demonstrated how they make their beef burgers or patties. They add their special seasoning to the minced beef, and this is processed in a machine. The product, when combined, is taken to another area where it is cut into circular shapes.

Joe and Richard placed a burger on a hotplate and heated it up. Believe me, it was one of the best burgers that I have ever had. I had no choice but to savour the unique taste of the seasoning and spices.

“Our ingredients are highly secret,” said Richard as he gave a broad smile.

The brothers, who followed in their father’s footsteps as butchers, received their training from Walls at Harlesden, and J.H. Dewhursts, in the United Kingdom.

Midway Butchers operates along the main road at Grand Gate, Lowmans Leeward.

They explained that one of the key features of their business is the provision of boneless meat. As part of their training, they had to understand animal anatomy, and in a few minutes can dissect a chunk of meat from its bone without splintering the bones as some local butchers do.

The experts say they are eager to share their knowledge with other butchers across St.Vincent and the Grenadines, and especially housewives.

“We want to pass the knowledge on. We don’t want to bury it with us,” said Richard, explaining that a training session had been held at his butcher shop earlier this month with other butchers.

The butchers, who credited Minister of Culture Rene Baptiste with encouraging them to start the butcher shop here, are asking Vincentians to place their orders for the Christmas season early.

“You get what you want if you put your orders in early. You come Christmas Eve, you get what’s left,” said Joe.

At the moment, Midway Butchers has a clientele that includes workers at the Buccama Bay Resort, Mustique, and several hotels. One of their main desires is to sell their products in supermarkets throughout the state.