MAPLEWOOD, Mo. – A local butcher will be in the national spotlight next week.
Bolyard’s Meat and Provisions head butcher, Chris Bolyard, will appear on ‘The Butcher.’ The show is part of a new series on The History Channel.
The episode will air on June 19 at 9 p.m.
“Being on the show really validates my decision to switch gears professionally from the culinary/ kitchen world to focus on the butcher world,” says Bolyard. “In making that switch, I have the opportunity to provide St. Louis with an alternative to big box grocery store meat. In working with local farms and their families, I get to hone in the craft of butchering, but also I get to be a part of the bigger ‘food picture’. It’s just awesome that there is such an interest in butchering. It was an incredible opportunity to team up with The History Channel to help educate the public on the skills that it takes to butcher whole animals.”
Chris and his wife Abbie Bolyard opened Bolyard’s Meat and Provisions in 2014. The local butcher shop offers pasture raised, hand cut meat, house made provisions, charcuterie, fermented items and more. The team partners with small Midwestern farms for their product and uses the whole animal, from head to tail. Every order is cut fresh to the guest’s preference.
Bolyard’s name was given to the producers of ‘The Butcher’ by a friend in the industry who was interviewing to be on the show at the time. The production team reached out to him, and after a few phone calls, he was invited to Los Angeles to participate.
‘The Butcher’ is a new television show from The History Channel dedicated to the historic and skilled craft of butchery. Each show hosts four butchers in an “extreme, high-stakes competition where best-in-class butchers battle in a showdown designed to put their knowledge, strategy and technique to the ultimate test.” Each butcher must overcome challenges and use their expertise to adapt to historical twists in the task at hand.
Bolyard will break down an entire deer using a traditional flint knife with a limited amount of time. The competitor with the least number of acceptable retail cuts is eliminated. The remaining butchers must cut steaks to the perfect thickness by eyesight. The final competitors must butcher a wild board and yield the most meat value. The Butcher Champion takes home a monetary prize of $10,000.
