The School Of Artisan Food

Ray Smith has been involved with butchery in various forms since he was fifteen years old, although he has had several other occupations over the years! He and his wife ran their own shop for twelve years, and during this time Ray learned most of the skills for which he is so well known today. In 1998 he met Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and become the River Cottage butcher, giving Hugh the benefit of his expertise and knowledge during the writing of both the River Cottage Cook Book and the River Cottage Meat Book, which Hugh openly admits he couldn’t have written without Ray’s help. Today Ray teaches butchery at River Cottage, running courses on turning pigs, lamb, game, venison and beef into joints, sausages, hams and salamis. He also runs an extremely popular course dealing specifically with the curing and smoking of fish and meat. Freelance work now forms a large part of Ray’s schedule now including bespoke butchery demonstrations for groups of smallholders, for private functions and charity events. He has also given talks and demonstrations at the Channel 4 Taste Festival, the Ideal Home Exhibition, the Game Fair and several large agricultural shows. His pupils have included Mark Sargeant, Rick Stein, Angela Hartnett and Danny Millar, and he has several trips abroad planned to visit some of his pupils. Ray is keen to be involved in passing on his butchery skills to the next generation and is looking forward to participating in the School of Artisan Food.