A cut above: Master butcher brings ethically and sustainably sourced meat to Cocoa Village

AI-assisted summary
• Josh Dudley is a certified master butcher who recently opened Forgotten Block butcher shop in Cocoa Village, Florida.
• Dudley sources high-quality, humanely raised meats, including Brasstown Beef and Cheshire Pork.
• The butcher shop aims to create a memorable experience for patrons, celebrating food and its origins.

Some artists use paints, others stone or metal to render their artistic vision. Josh Dudley prefers meats.

Dudley is a certified master butcher, a virtuoso when it comes to optimal preparation of raw beef, pork, venison, lamb, and poultry into cuts way above the ordinary.

Late last year, Dudley opened the Forgotten Block butcher shop at Belair Courtyard in Cocoa Village. His attitude and abilities pay homage to a noble profession that harkens back centuries.

Dudley takes immense pride in continuing a long tradition. Just as an experienced sommelier knows the complex nuances of fine wine, Dudley is familiar with the quality preparation of meat from key livestock species.

“They are a real butcher and you know exactly what you’re getting, true farm-to-table meat,” said Cocoa resident Joe French.

A butcher is very different from a meat cutter and a master butcher is considered the apex of the profession.

“There is quite a lot of training to do to become a butcher,” Dudley said.

Meat cutters usually specialize in specific cuts, and are responsible for trimming, weighing and packaging the meat. Butchers, on the other hand, are experts with a wide variety of types and cuts of meat, and, just as importantly, are passionate about safety protocols and where the meats are sourced. A master butcher takes this knowledge to the ultimate level of the profession.

Not that long ago, even small towns included independent butchers as part of the go-to shops. Nowadays, they are rare.

“Big box stores destroyed them, so now it’s hard for small-town butcher shops to survive,” Dudley said.

For Dudley, an important part of the job is selecting meat that are not only of high quality, but have also been humanely grown and harvested.

“We’re absolutely unwavering about this, and our customers appreciate it,” he said.

“We’re also passionate about supporting farmers who raise their livestock to be 100% grass-fed in a sustainable manner.”

For beef, he favors North Carolina’s Brasstown Beef, called the gold standard in all-natural, pasture-centered beef. Also from North Carolina is Cheshire Pork, Dudley’s preference for “the other white meat.” Cheshire Pork is the official house purveyor of the James Beard Foundation. The meat of the farms’ heritage pork is known for superior marbling and its accompanying enhanced flavor as well as for a high content of monounsaturated fat, which lowers “bad” cholesterol while increasing the “good” one.

In regards to lamb Dudley relies on, it’s Katahdin Lamb from Georgia and for poultry, Bell & Evans, which feeds its chicken U.S. grown corn and soy, plus their own blend of oregano oil, cinnamon and yucca to support their natural gut health.

“I love having a local butcher that I can talk to about where the meat is coming from, and the fact that it’s a small business,” said customer Courtney Weglin. “They can cut things for me as I need them. I’m just so stoked to have them here.”

Beyond livestock, Dudley can provide the main entrée for dinners of wild game, including caribou, elk, wild boar and venison. If steaks are on the menu, he can craft everything from a three-inch-thick Tomahawk Ribeye to a classic - and awe-inspiring - Steamboat Steak. He cut nine of them for a bachelor party recently.

Dudley hates waste, so he works hard to minimize it. Tallow gets rendered into candles, soap, body lotions and balms at B&B Candles and Soaps in Cocoa Village.

“We’re working on shampoos and conditioners,” he said.

Ultimately, Dudley aims to create an experience his patrons will remember. Forgotten Block is much more than a place to purchase good cuts of meat, or buy the fixings for a charcuterie, or stock up on artisanal cheese. It exists to celebrate food, its origins and its role in our lives. 

“We help make memories,” Dudley said.

Forgotten Block is at 204 Brevard Ave., in the Belair Courtyard, Cocoa Village. For more information, visit forgottenblock.com or call 321-339-9089.

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