The "Butchering an Animal" program
Butchering a deer in the middle of Osaka City is rare, I think. At Minna no Uen Kitakagaya, we have held "Butchering an Animal" as an annual event. Through the life of a deer, the aim is to feel and think about the connection between the city and the mountains.
In February 2020, it was our fourth time. For this one we invited guests including a university researcher, a hunter from Mie, and someone working with game meat in the Seto Inland Sea area. The day ran from morning to evening with deer butchering, a lecture, a trap demonstration, a talk session, and a game-meat cooking class. With each year, I feel the participants' enthusiasm growing.
Game meat on the home dining table
The cooking classes are led by "Yamaniku Deli," who run a game-meat shop in Osaka City. In September 2017, we held the first cooking class where we learned cooking methods in detail. The ingredient that day was a young wild boar born that spring. They showed us how to handle the meat and remove the sinews as they demonstrated.
The class in October 2019 drew all kinds of people: restaurant owners, people involved in hunting and farming, homemakers, even children. Game meat has an image of being smelly and tough, but apparently much of that comes from how it is processed, distributed and cooked. That day we learned recipes that bring wild boar into everyday home cooking, such as boar soup, sake-steamed dishes and a chijimi-style pancake.
From the table to the link between mountains and farming
All of us are connected to nature through eating. Yet the process by which our food comes into being is cut off from the dining table, and we rarely get a chance to learn about it.
The life of the mountains and the world of hunting tend to feel far away for those of us living in the city. By turning them into an experience of butchering, cooking and eating at the nearby field, a farm in the city can serve as a window connecting city and countryside, and city and mountains. I believe that is also an important role of an urban farm.