We Live in a World Where ‘Carnivore Club’ Delivers High-End Meats Monthly to Your Front Door

Pancetta from Ends Meat NY

I have to admit, when I first started falling down the “monthly box” rabbit hole I was under the illusion it was limited to Loot Crate and a few others. Toys, comics, fun character socks, you know that sort of thing.  Boy was I ever wrong. Since then we have come across boxes for geeks, gamers, workout gear, beer and wine enthusiasts and the latest I got to dive into was “Carnivore Club”.  Ladies and gentlemen, the headline says it all: not only can we get nerdy socks and Pop Vinyls each month but we can also get amazing cuts of meat delivered directly to our front door.

From their website: “Carnivore Club is the world’s first curated cured meat of the month club featuring artisans from around the world. Each month our members receive an impressive faux-wood box filled with 4-6 handcrafted cured meats from top artisans. Like wine, the laborious craft of cured meats is an art form that requires the diligent pursuit of perfection through endless hours of trial and error. Carnivore Club celebrates the individual recipes of each cured meat savant, no two meats are alike even when similar in name.  Each month’s box is themed around one producer specializing in a particular style of cured meats: French Charcuterie, Italian Salumi, Spanish Chorizo, South African Biltong and Artisanal Jerky are but a few,” personally I just refer to them as a little box of heaven.

Our box arrived in a stylish box resembling an old-fashioned cutting board emblazoned with the Carnivore Club logo on it, with the promise of a meat eaters fantasies to be fulfilled by the contents that lay within.  Inside each cut of meat is delicately wrapped in thick, brown butcher paper, with a hand written label of what is inside each individually wrapped bundle.  For those of us that are not professional butchers or higher end meat connoisseurs, Carnivore Club includes a 4 page glossy, hard stock booklet describing everything in the months bundle.  Describing that months choice of meats, as well as a bio on the supplier.  Our box was prepared for us by End Meats of New York, “dedicated to sustained practices they source their pork from local family farms in New York and New Jersey”

I was excited, peeling away each piece of butcher paper like a kid at Christmas revealing 4 beautiful choices inside.  I have to admit it was difficult not to dive into each meat with utter abandon, each of them were gorgeous and the aromas were making my stomach growl.  All of that made it difficult to set up my photo studio and snap shots of the meats before I engu… slowly savored them.  But once that was done and I felt I had done each cut justice I jumped right into the Pancetta.  I sliced, diced and thew it into a pan, frying it up in its own juices not wanting to lose any of the promised flavor with any additional items.  Described as “more delicate than bacon with the same flavorful fattiness”, as promised it has a lightly sweet and salty flavor that would make a great addition to anything from a salad to a morning skillet.

Cacciatorini from Ends Meat NY

The great thing about this box is I was able to savor it over the next few days using suggestions from the included Carnivore Club guide.  Spreading the flavorful Nduja on crackers was another joy, made with a variety of chiles including Serano and Chipotle, this flavorful spreadable pork was easily a new favorite of mine and my wife’s during evening snack time.

Lonza was the prettiest of the bunch (to me), I love the appearance of the delicately sliced meat beautifully marbled with a nice ratio of fat and meat.  I savored this treat coupling it with fresh-baked bread, intrigued I read into this meat and discovered it is dried with minimal spicing bringing out the natural pork flavors that matched well with the bread and mild swiss cheese I chose. I hid from the rest of my family and ate it for snacks at my desk while researching and writing articles.    Everyone needs snacks, this was just a a higher end one and a welcome change from norm.

Last but certainly not least I was the Cacciatorini, I ate it thinly sliced on crackers.  Cacciatorini is a cured italian sausage but this one was a head above anything you might find in your Hickory Farms holiday gift box.  This one I couldn’t keep away from my kids as they gobbled it up faster than I could slice pieces off for them.  The flavors are mild yet plentiful as you would expect from an italian sausage.

Full disclosure, I am not a professional butcher.  Nor do I consider myself a foodie with a sophisticated palette.  What I am is a guy that loves meats, loves trying new foods and Carnivore Club meets both of those needs.  They have several different subscription options available to meet your needs and budget.  You can can give it a one shot try or order it monthly, but they absolutely get my stamp of approval.  If you use the code “FanboyNation” at checkout and save 10% off any purchase!