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Sanagan’s currently carries pork from three Southern Ontario family farms. Like all Sanagan’s suppliers, our pork farmers value small scale, humane animal husbandry. The pigs are processed at low volume facilities located near the farms. By contrast the abattoirs that inspired the name Hogtown were anything but small scale. So, while Sanagan’s embraces a different approach to the life and death of the pig, we’re proud to be selling great pork in Hogtown and thought you might be interested to know how the name came to be. 

 

Sanagan’s heritage pork raised on Murray’s Farm 

 

If the name Hogtown can be attributed to one person, it would be William Davies whose ascent from a single St. Lawrence Market stall in the 1850’s to the establishment of Canada Packers (now Maple Leaf Foods) firmly implanted the pig’s footprint on Toronto’s identity. Along the way the William Davies Corporation became the largest supplier of bacon to England, shipping out of North America’s second largest pork processing plant, located in the Don Valley at Front Street. Davies is credited with popularizing peameal bacon, making him the Godfather of Toronto’s signature sandwich. Eventually the animal world tired of Mr. Davies attentions. He died as a result of injuries suffered after being butted by a goat. 

 

It’s not difficult to witness a herd mentality at Keele and St. Clair as shoppers descend upon Home Depot and Canadian Tire, but this area used to support actual herds of cattle, pork, and horses. The Stockyards, a 300-acre network of rail sidings, loading platforms, stock pens, and processors, including Maple Leaf and Swifts, was once North America’s largest livestock facility. The fortunes of the Stockyards rose and fell with the railroad. By the time trucking eclipsed rail as the most efficient form of livestock transport, and combined with the pressures of Toronto’s ravenous real estate market, the demise of the Stockyards was inevitable. The majority of processors moved from Toronto to Cookstown in 1994 but not after doing its share to consolidate our nickname as Hogtown.

 

Toronto Stockyards

 

Up until its closure in 2014, for many Torontonians the name Hogtown was embodied by Quality Meat Packers on Tecumseth Street near Fort York. Even if you never saw the abattoir there’s a good chance you saw the trucks, loaded with pigs, driving towards it. I remember working at Fort York in my early 20’s. You either got the industrial beer smell of the Molson’s brewery or the raunchy not quite bacon smell of Quality Meats. Grimly, it felt historically accurate. There had been a packing plant on the site since 1914 in the form of the Toronto Municipal Slaughterhouse. This facility was bought in 1960 by Quality Meats. At its height, Quality processed one third of Ontario’s pork. While it defied animal rights protests and condo-mania it was eventually brought down by the cruel variables of the free market. The last straw was the piglet-killing virus of 2014. Thankfully for Sanagan’s, and the pigs, our small-scale pork farmers were unaffected by the outbreak. 

 

The original site of Quality Meat Packers  

 

Things change. The hogs have left Hogtown. Toronto’s de-industrialization has been rapid. But high quality, locally raised, family-farmed pork will never leave Sanagan’s and Sanagan’s, finger’s crossed, will never leave The Six. 

 

Graham Duncan

Photos: Graham Duncan and Toronto Archives

Spreading out a blanket, sitting in the sun, eating, drinking, maybe a touch of postprandial Frisbee: the picnic is summer at its best. And during the pandemic, it’s a responsible way to socialize with those beyond your bubble. If food tastes better outside, then imagine how good our all-Ontario products will be al fresco. All you have to do is stock your cooler with our charcuterie, cheeses, salads and accompanying condiments and you’re ready for a class repast on the grass. Just add bread and beverages. Charcuterie Packaged salami and cured meats from our deli selection are the ultimate in no-cook feast-ability. A little bit of bread and mustard doesn’t hurt either. Prosciutto, Soppresatta, Black Forest Ham and Summer Sausage are just a few examples of picnic perfect deli meats. Or go minimalist with a backpack compatible selection of jerkies, biltong and pepperettes. Pâtés and Terrines Created by our charcutier, Scott Draper, these classic preparations are portable servings of delectability made with the same locally sourced meat you see behind our counter. Luxurious selections such as Pâté Forestier, Pâté de Campagne, Pork & Dried Fruit Terrine and Duck Liver Mousse can be spread on bread or crackers and elevate your nature noshing with French culinary traditions. Salads When you head out to the green fields be sure to take some of our greens with you. Anne Hynes and the kitchen team have house-made salads that will keep your picnic delicious and balanced. Lentil and Pear Salad, Beet, Orange and Feta Salad and Kale Super Salad should definitely be on your summer dining shopping list. Or take your own greens and anoint them with our House Vinaigrette. Roasted Chicken Our fantastic King Capon Farms chickens are coated in our Sanagan’s Rub, roasted, vacuum-packed and chilled. Here’s where a genetic mutation that gives you some extra fingers would be good because you’ll want to lick as many as possible. Cheese We’re sure it’s not news to you that Ontario is home to some great independent cheese makers and Sanagan’s is proud to supply their products to you. Enhance your hamper with selections like: Monforte’s Providence; Stonetown’s Emmental or Thornloe’s Cheddar. Pickles and Condiments Our kitchen makes numerous mustards, jellies and pickles that can jazz up your al fresco feast. Maybe a little Beerhall Mustard on your Summer Sausage? Maybe a little Rhubarb and Lavender Jelly with your Monforte Emmot cheese? Maybe some Chili Infused Garlic Scapes with your Pâté de Campagne? Actually, there’s no maybe about it! Along with our house-made products, we carry an outstanding lineup of All-Ontario jarred goods that are picnic classics: Aunt Lovina’s relishes; mustards by Kozliks and Brü; Apple Flats Crab Apple Jelly (says right on it, “try it with cheese”). Simplest picnic in the world? A jar of Sanagan’s Pickled Eggs on the fire escape. So, stash the stove, grab the lawn chairs, come to Sanagan’s, pick a park, find a field or bivouac in a bower. Summer only lasts so long.

Lose the Pan. Let’s have a Grill-demic! Barbecue season is upon us and it’s one of the simple pleasures we can still indulge in. It’s a lot easier to maintain physical distancing when you’re in a big cloud of grill smoke. The only thing easier than marinating some meat and throwing it on the fire is to let Sanagan’s do the marinating for you. We make the kitchen math so simple: Marinade X + Meat Y x grill flavour + beverage = a memorable munch. Here’s a list of some of our most popular preparations available at our Kensington store. Supplies will vary at the Gerrard shop. Photos: Top Row, Left to Right: Hanger Chimichurri, Cuban Bavette, Herb & Garlic Lamb, Pork Souvlaki Second Row: Teriyaki Short Ribs, Bulgogi Pork Belly Plate: Jerk Chicken, Honey Dijon Wings Chimichurri Hanger Steak This elegant Argentinian/Uruguayan marinade featuring red wine vinegar, garlic, shallots and parsley lets the big mineral beefy flavour of the hanger steak shine. Be sure to slice across the grain for ultimate tenderness. Our head butcher, Jerry, also recommends chimichurri as an accompanying sauce to any grilled steak. Play true to type on this one and serve it with an Argentinian Malbec. Cuban Bavette You might know the full-flavoured open-grained bavette steak in its classic French iteration as steak frites but we also love its interplay with our bright citric Cuban marinade. With lime, lemon and cilantro leading the way, we give the bavette a Cuban revolution. Capitalize on those citric notes with a wheat beer. Herb and Garlic Boneless Lamb Sirloin Parsley, thyme, rosemary, garlic, onion etc. point things in a French direction and complement the alluring flavour of our fresh young Ontario lamb. With the bone out of the equation, you can grill these butterflied lamb sirloins just like a steak. Amplify the Gallic theme with an affordable bottle of Côte du Rhône red. Pork Souvlaki Skewers You can do Taste of the Danforth right in your backyard or on your deck with our chunks of pork shoulder tenderized by lemon and boldly flavoured with oregano, garlic and chili flakes. In a pita or with a salad, these are so delicious. They’re not always easy to find but Greek reds made from the Agioritiko grape would pair well with the skewers, or try a craft brew IPA. Teriyaki Short Ribs The short rib is normally a slow cooking piece of beef you associate with mid-winter braises. But slice them cell phone thin on the butcher’s bandsaw, marinate them in an irresistible combination of soy, mirin, ginger, etc. and you’ve got a Sanagan’s all-time best seller. It only takes about 8 minutes to grill up a big batch of these. And, based upon personal experience, not much longer to eat them. Try them with a full-bodied New World Cabernet Sauvignon. Bulgogi Pork Belly It may be some time before we can ramble to Koreatown for a grill-fest but these are just as tasty. Enlivened by, among other things, gochujang sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil, throw these on the grill and in no time you’ve got a plate full of juicy barbecued Korean bacon. Cold lagers forever! Jerk Chicken Another Sanagan’s classic. Slathered in warm Caribbean spices and a touch of Scotch Bonnet heat, these leg pieces are what grills are made for. But like many other items on this list, they also work great in the oven. Guinness or Red Stripe would maintain an Island theme or try a Chilean Shiraz/Syrah. Honey Dijon Chicken Wings Along with it being my burlesque name, honey dijon may make you shuffle off your Buffalo wings allegiance. Honey sweetness contrasted by mustard’s corrective zap and a touch of horse radish, even more zap, makes our chicken wings take flight. I dare you to eat just 20. A semi-dry Riesling would be perfect with these.

Sanagan’s grade A maple syrup is produced in Guelph, Ontario by Shady Grove, the same family who raise most of our holiday turkeys. Shady Grove has 30,000 taps installed in 15 local woodlots, feeding not picturesque buckets but networks of vacuum-powered sap extraction systems. Their sugar shack (a.k.a. production facility) has the ability to process 4000 gallons of syrup per hour. They are serious about syrup and the result is top grade stuff. In contrast to this high-tech scenario I’ve had the immense good fortune, having married into maple, of seeing the process at its most pioneer-like. My wife’s family, The Purvis’s obtained their original 400 acres of farmland and bush near Brockville, Ontario, in the form of an 1812 War land grant. At some point in the 1840’s they built a stone farmhouse. This is the house my wife grew up in, shaded by massive ancient sugar maples tapped for generations to produce the family’s annual batch of maple syrup. #13 Syrup Street If you’re looking for a holistic wellness program, I can’t recommend syrup making strongly enough. Endless lungfuls of bracing fresh air in a deeply natural setting, hiking through the bush carrying heavy buckets, mounting the pick-up truck, unloading the heavy antique milk cans and filling the boiler; it’s like CrossFit at Walden Pond. Graham’s bucket list After your workout you bask in the sap spa, the makeshift boiling tent where 40 units of sap is reduced into 1 unit of syrup and you steam yourself in the clouds of sweet mist coming out of the wood-fired evaporator. While you gently steam, it’s recommended you re-fortify with constant sampling. Boiling Up So, I count myself lucky to be included in this sweet tradition. For those of you who don’t have a tapping family, you can still enjoy this elemental distillation of Canada’s natural flavour. Just include a bottle of maple syrup on your next Sanagan’s shopping list. Ted and Laurel Purvis Ted (right) started early

How do you like to spend your days off in the winter? If you’re anything like me, you’re happy to enjoy the bit of snow we are getting this year, while taking advantage of the opportunity to savour warming, hearty dishes. A couple of weekends ago in Toronto, while St. John’s got hit with a massive snowstorm we received a comparatively small, but not inconsequential, amount of snow. Knowing this snow was on its way, I was happy to have loaded up on a couple of new sausages from our resident charcutier, Scott. Ingenuity and development are two of our core values at Sanagan’s, and few people embody those as Scott does. He isn’t trying to reinvent the wheel, but is constantly working on further developing his recipes and techniques in search of the best possible product. His recent improvements with emulsions and sausages has led to three new (for us) varieties: Montbeliard, Bockwurst, and Knackwurst (or saucisse d’Alsace). All three sausages may be included in the classic Alsatian dish choucroute garnie. Choucroute is a dish without a single specific recipe. Rather, it typically includes sauerkraut, sausages, and a wide variety of other meat/potato/vegetable components. For my version, I used all three of Scott’s sausages, a smoked ham hock, sauerkraut, and Cookstown Greens organic potatoes. It was as easy as it could be to make; essentially braising the ham hock in the sauerkraut with white wine and stock, adding the sausages and potatoes towards the end, shredding the meat from the hock, and serving with lots of mustard. This left me lots of time through the day to enjoy it with my boys and shovel the driveway twice.

Hunting season in Ontario generally lasts from mid-September to mid-December. As we roll into December at Sanagan’s, you won’t have to hunt for delicious offerings to fill any of your holiday needs.

One offering that may have eluded you in the past is our Hunter’s Pie. Chef Anne and her team in the kitchen have refined this recipe over the past few years to it’s near perfect current iteration. Rich venison, elk and wild boar are slowly simmered with red wine and paired with hearty lentils and aromatics inside a buttery, flaky crust, topped with a true trophy in the form of a piece of bone marrow.

Our Hunter’s Pie is the very definition of a special occasion dish. It is rich, and delicious, and one should likely fight the desire to enjoy it every day, reserving it for gatherings with friends and family. My suggestion would be to keep things simple, and serve this with a crisp green salad using a mix with bitter greens and a mustard vinaigrette.

We have a quiet Christmas planned this year, but our centrepiece on Christmas Eve will be one of Chef Anne’s delicious Hunter Pies. Happy hunting, and happy holidays!

The Sum Of All Turkey Knowledge — Right Here If you want to get all fancy with your turkey - brining, butterflying, deep frying — go for it. But for a lot of people, simple roasted turkey really does the trick. Also, they may have a few hundred other things to worry about on Christmas day, so just throwing the bird in the oven and letting it go with minimal intervention, is an attractive proposition that doesn’t preclude a beautiful bird on the festive table. In pursuit of the most worry-free roast turkey, I’ve cross-referenced a number of classic all-purpose cookbooks (Joy of Cooking, Fanny Farmer, Canadian Living, Julia Child, The New Basics) and distilled them into the following turkey summary. All turkey cooking times are approximate. Your best bet is an accurate meat thermometer. When inserted into the thickest part of the thigh, not touching the bone, a reading of 180° F (82° C) will ensure your turkey is done. With or without a thermometer, estimate 13 to 15 minutes per pound with the oven pre-heated to 325°. When cooking turkey in the traditional breast side up manner, the breast may become dry. If the breast appears to be cooking too quickly, cover with foil. Ideal breast temperature is 165°. For stuffed birds allow for an extra 20 to 30 minutes in total cooking time. Bread stuffing must reach 160° F. All turkeys will benefit from a 30-minute rest before carving. Turned turkeys, where the breast is not continuously exposed to the refracted heat of the oven’s roof are a good way to promote even cooking. Consult cookbooks or on-line sources. Happy feasting!

So you’ve not only taken the time to subscribe to this newsletter but now you’ve gone to all the trouble of clicking to reach here. You deserve some real rewards for your effort and here they come! The insider tips. The behind the scenes low down. The scoop. Here are some of our lesser known deals, unsung winners and staff favourites that will make you a Sanagan’s Subscriber Smart Shopper. Picnic Chickens If we didn’t sell all of today’s hot rotisserie chickens, they become tomorrow’s cold Picnic Chickens. Look for them vacuum-packed in the deli department. They’re a steal of a deal. Smoked Pork Chops Cured and cold-smoked, this pork chop thinks it’s a piece of bacon. Fry em, grill em, bake em, broil em, put em under your saddle and ride to Utaanbaatar; these beauties offer endless affordable versatility. Goat One of the most consumed meats around the world, we try to always have some Ontario-raised goat on hand. If you don’t see any in the window please inquire, we may have some shoulder, leg or ribs in the back. Shepherd’s Pie All the convenience of straight from the freezer to the oven to the table with none of the chemicals or industrial flavours of supermarket frozen foods. Featuring equal parts beef, lamb and pork, topped with mashed potatoes enriched with butter and cream, these classics, in small or large, are what wholesome dining is all about. Guaranteed not to contain shepherds. Porchetta I don’t think Peter’s really costed this one out. The butchers put a lot of care into its preparation but it’s definitely on the cheaper side of the window. And a big porchetta is an effortless crowd-pleaser. Pork loin or belly wrapped with more pork belly, layered with Italianate seasonings. Just slow bake it, slice and serve. Così buono! Fats All butchers trim a lot of fat. But do they all melt them into lard, schmaltz and tallow? We do. And we sell them in 250ml tubs for next to nothing. Up your frying and baking game with our all-local fat. Dog Food Made up of ground beef and lamb from the very same meats you see in the window, our dog food will make your pooch happy and healthy. According to the dog owners I talk to, it’s a great deal. Look for it in the freezer. If you don’t see — please ask. Meat Your Salad The Sanagan’s kitchen makes some truly tasty salads that are great on their own but why don’t you do what a lot of staff members do and Meat Your Salad? We can slice you a little bit of salami, roast beef or ham from the deli and you drop it right on the kale, lentils or beets. Meat Your Salad deluxe? Drop some pâté en croute onto your greens. Dry Aged Beef Burgers If you want to sample what time can do to a piece of beef, you can buy our beautiful dry-aged steaks or you can try our dry-aged burgers, at about ¼ the price. Given their popularity, it may seem like a bit of a stretch to describe our D.A.B.’s as an insider product but, as a dry-age gateway, they have a lot of secrets to share. Marinades If you’re a fan of some of our classic marinated preparations like jerk chicken, Cuban bavette or souvlaki skewers, you can now buy just the sauces from our grab and go fridge and do your own marinating on whatever you like. Jerk your pork! Cuban your lamb! Souvlaki your bacon! These are just a few samples of what Sanagan’s has beyond big steaks and chicken breasts. And, of course, there’s more. The best way to find out is to come on in and talk to the staff. We like talking about food almost as much as we like eating it.

Make Sanagan’s your holiday destination this year! We have everything you’ll need to create a successful feast for your family and friends, so join us at either location and get your harvest feast on!

To place your order, either call us at 416-593-9747, or email us at (Kensington) info@sanagansmeatlocker.com, or (Gerrard) gerrard@sanagansmeatlocker.com.

TURKEYS

We source our birds from two different farms; Shady Grove (Guelph, ON), and Elm Creek (Grand Valley, ON). If the former sounds familiar, that’s because it’s where we get our maple syrup from! Both farms adhere to our standards of antibiotic & hormone-free, and free-run meat. The turkeys come in a variety of weight ranges, and as much as we sincerely try to get everyone EXACTLY what they ask for, there is sometimes a variance (on the heavy end). For example, if you want a 16 lb bird, your order goes in the 16-18 lb range, and it’s possible that the birds dress out on the heavy end, so you might have to take a 18lber. But that’s ok, just more turkey sandwiches in your future!

As for Heritage Turkeys, we’ll be getting some in from The Packing House, one of our preferred suppliers who sources game birds, specialty beef, and other great items like these Orlopp Bronze birds from a farm near Meaford. These are beautiful, pasture-raised birds, and I can say from personal experience that they’re some of the tastiest turkeys around! These birds will be coming in between 15 and 20 lbs – we have a limited supply so get your orders in early!

As well as fresh turkeys, we will be getting in whole Smoked Turkeys from Metzger Meats.

NOT TURKEY

Are you one of the few people who don’t like turkey? No worries, we have you covered!

Capons (usually range from about 8 to 10 lbs)

Quails

Cornish Hens

City Ham (smoked, bone-in hams) We get them whole, so we can cut them to size.

Baseball hams (small, boneless smoked hams, better for a small number of people)

Breakfast Sausage Stuffing (loose breakfast sausage mix to put in your stuffing)

SIDES

As well as these “main event” items, Anne and her team in the kitchen will be making up some lovely sides to accompany everyone’s turkey dinners. Here’s what we’ll be offering:

Cranberry Sauce

Turkey Gravy

Turkey Stock

Bread Stuffing

Brine Bags

Brining Kits (includes a brine bag and the brine mix – just add water!)

CHARCUTERIE

It wouldn’t be a feast if you didn’t start with the perfect charcuterie board! Come down and see what Scott has made for the occasion. No one else in the city has the selection of house made pâtés, rillettes, and mousses that your friends here at Sanagan’s have! Impress your friends and your taste buds!