Who needs wagyu beef when the UK’s native breeds can produce marbling like this? Farmed using traditional methods, on a diet of diverse Yorkshire Dales pasture, these breeds can produce outstanding results. This is a whole Denver steak cut from a Hereford x Lowline heifer, farmed by Tom Boothman in Linton. A truly stunning piece of beef. The Denver is cut from the forequarter, just above the chuck eye and, when marbled like this, makes a fantastic secondary steak option. Either cut into individual steaks, or maybe cooked as a large steak and then carved from – both excellent options. Our whole carcass butchery model means that these cuts are never wasted, but rather celebrated, giving our chefs and home cooks access to all the delights of these wonderful beasts. #nosetotail #marbling #butcherscut

Pork! Isn’t it wonderful? It provides the basis for a significant amount of what we do here at Swaledale. Middlewhite and Tamworth are the breeds we work with most regularly and they come to us twice a week. Our butchery team then break them down. Such is it’s versatility, the various cuts then make their way to all corners of the business. Loins, bellies, shoulders in the ager, then other loins and bellies for bacon. Then there are the legs; hams of varying sizes, hocks for curing and sometimes smoking, trotters. Plus the heads; sometimes sold whole and sometimes the jowls removed for curing and smoking. And then of course there are the sausages; all of the trim, plus some choice cuts, from these wonderful animals make their way into our range of sausages. We make the most of the whole carcass, nothing wasted, the animal celebrated! #nosetotail #ham #trotters

A misty morning at the Harewood estate this week as we captured some very moody photos of the deer on this beautiful land. Next week will mark the first day of shooting for the season at the Harewood estate, which means we will have a supply of venison from early September. These red and fallow deers freely roam the 4000 acres of land on the estate and are managed in a considered and sustainable way by Ellen and her team. They live a totally natural, wild existence, which comes through in the quality and flavour of the meat. An exciting time of year and a celebration of our longstanding relationship with the Harewood estate.

Capturing BBQ photography hasn’t been the easiest during this most soggy of Yorkshire summers. We’ve been at the mercy of the weather - which has been totally grim - but our spirits haven’t been dampened! On this occasion we were slow smoking a whole beef shin in almost torrential rain. @grylos and his umbrella offering just enough shelter to take some decent photographs. We had fun though and the end product was certainly delicious. The recipe page is in our linktree 🔗 if you fancy having a crack this bank holiday weekend (fingers crossed for the weather!) #photoshoot #behindthescenes

We thoroughly enjoy a Monday morning look around the fridges, assessing the stock and working out the highlights for the week ahead. We know that the meat that gets us excited will also get our community of chefs excited too. This week, our attention was drawn to the sirloins of beef, which, as you can see, are looking in a very good place. This is beef of the highest quality, for we have started seeing the first of the cattle that have been munching on the nutrient rich summer grasses and wildflowers. In fact, the next few months are considered, at least in these parts, to be the best for beef in the calendar, which is exciting. We very much look forward to seeing fruits of our farmer’s labour. If you’re a wholesale customer of ours and fancy laying your hands on some of these beauties, then get on the phone to Joe. He’ll be more than happy to sort you out! #sirloinsteak #nativebreed #dryaged

Mutton from James Hall, nestled high in the scenic reaches of Upper Wharfedale—or more precisely, Arncliffe in Littondale. As we’ve explored previously, mutton has long been a staple of our discussions, and recently, all our mutton comes from James Hall’s efforts in this secluded part of Yorkshire, right next to Upper Wharfedale near Kilnsey and its famed crag. This region boasts a rich history of sheep farming, a tradition as ancient as agriculture itself in these parts. As we transition into peak / late summer, we’re loving our mutton, advocating for it as a sustainable and delicious food choice. We believe embracing such heritage foods is essential for sustainable eating. #mutton #yorkshiredales #muttoncurry #muttonrecipes

‘Our ~Kid~ Trevor’ shows off his silky skills with this side of mutton. Breaking it down and then cutting some excellent looking chops. Dark, flavourful meat and a lovely, creamy white covering of fat. As far as chops go, these have to be up there amongst the best. Fantastic pan fried or cooked over coals, they naturally have the depth and character to stand up to big, robust flavours, and, if you’re not on board with mutton chops yet, then you should be. Selling mutton is an important part of the farming ecosystem in this part of the world. Whilst the chef and restaurant community lose their heads about ‘ex-dairy’ cattle, they forget that mutton represents a very similar mechanism in the farming of sheep. They have already fulfilled their primary role on the farm; breeding, but that must not be the end of their journey. A few months enjoying their retirement, munching through kilos of grass and wildflowers, and they are ready to fulfil a secondary role, as meat. And what meat it is! Get it on your menus and dining tables! Delicious, yes, but you’ll also be supporting the sheep farmers of Yorkshire. #mutton #muttonchops #cullyow

We have actually, finally, entered the barbecue season. Bye bye rain and unseasonably cool temperatures, hello sticky heat! This flat iron taco recipe is a total winner to pull out at your next barbecue. Our man @grylos is clearly enthused about putting it in his mouth. Perfect food for feeding a gathering, it delivers big on flavour and is fairly simple to prepare. Simply line up a load of icy cold beers and you’ve got yourself a perfect afternoon. The barbecued bone marrow and roasted tomato salsa was somewhat of a revelation. So much so in fact that we are tempted to sling a bit of bone marrow in all our salsa’s moving forward. Bone marrow mojo rojo anybody? Or chopped through a salsa verde?? You can find this delicious recipe on our journal! Link in our bio. #tacos #flatiron #bonemarrow #recipe