What’s your favourite foodie hashtag? #avocadotoast? #flatwhite? #burgerporn? Or just plain old #doughnuts? We’re willing to bet it’s not #meatart… and yet, the hashtag is gaining serious traction on Insta, and it’s easy to see why.
Leading the #meatart movement is LA-based butcher Jered Standing, who’s set to open his own whole-animal butchery later this year. Till then, he’s using Instagram to show off his butchery skills – and to present raw meat in a stunning way. There’s a beautifully stylised shot of a boneless saddle of lamb, rolled neatly, sprigs of rosemary accessorising it. There are bacon roses (for your bae, maybe?) and simple close-ups of fat-laden ribs.
In Australia, #meatart is alive and well. Victor Churchill owner Anthony Puharich frequently posts shots of heavily marbled beef, underused cuts like spider steak and slices of wagyu that are almost more fat than red meat. That last one? It got more than 900 likes. Clearly, there’s something we love about meat.
Puharich gets it. “I love meat. It’s my life. It’s what I do, it’s what I eat, it’s my heritage.” And indeed, for Victor Churchill’s 20th birthday celebrations, Puharich is planning a meat art exhibition. "It's beautiful photography of meat, in the style of Francis Bacon’s meat paintings. We’ve hired an amazing photographer. To launch it, we'll hold a special, intimate dinner for around 20 people in our Mascot factory, probably in spring.” Will some of the pieces end up in Puharich’s home? Maybe, he says. “Some people like fashion, some people like dogs - I like meat, so that's what I want to see on my walls!"
Some people like fashion, some people like dogs - I like meat, so that's what I want to see on my walls!
For more Aussie #meatart, be sure to follow the reigning barbecue kings of Sydney, Bovine and Swine (for pics of marinating beef ribs, slabs of lamb on the barbie and brisket that glistens with juice) and Porteno, the Argentinian-inspired, beef-heavy restaurant of Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz.
