MEET JESS PRYLES, HOST OF THE 2022 WORLD BUTCHERS’ CHALLENGE
Jess Pryles is a live fire cook, author, and TV personality specialising in all things meat. But in September 2022 she’ll be adding another title to an already impressive resume: Host of the 2022 World Butchers Challenge, World Champion Young Butcher and Butcher Apprentice competition.
Though she was born and raised in Australia we chatted to Jess from her new, ‘spiritual’ home, Austin, Texas - a relocation which you’ll soon find out has a lot to do with their brisket…
Jess, how did you get started working with meat?
Basically I was always a big meat eater at home but I was never really taught how to cook or buy it, I never knew what to ask for at the butcher shop. It was actually a trip to Texas about 12 years ago that changed all that, when I first tasted real Texas barbeque. I loved it so much that I wanted to recreate it but when I went home, I found myself going and asking for cuts of meat at the shop and no one knew what I was talking about! I realised that in Australia, brisket is very different to what it is in the states and that led me down this huge path of discovery into the butchery world; different cuts, different types of meat and how best to cook it.
“Butchers are so willing to share information, all you need to do is ask!”
How did you even start self-educating yourself?
Honestly it all started with the brisket! I went to the butcher shop and said ‘I’ll have a brisket thanks’ and they handed me this completely trimmed flat, rolled brisket, which is very common in Australia, New Zealand and British butcheries. But in America, especially Texas, when you ask for a brisket you get a full packer cut, it’s completely untrimmed (that’s why they call it the packer cut because it came from the packing houses like that). So I’m looking at the cut I got in Australia thinking ‘this is less than half the size of the brisket I got in Texas’ but I had no idea why it was smaller, all I knew is that it wasn’t right. And I was so frustrated that the next time I went to Texas, I walked around butcher shops asking questions like ‘can I watch you trim a brisket?’, just trying to understand the difference because it was so fascinating to me.
This whole brisket saga unlocked a whole new world for me and I realized just how much there is to learn about meat. Butchers are so willing to share information too, all you need to do is ask!
And how did that curiosity turn into a career, because now you yourself are something of a meat educator!
I was basically sharing what I learnt on my website and social media as I learnt it and it started to resonate with people. I was garnering this following and at the same time I was learning to barbeque and live fire cook and it reached the point where journalists in Australia were coming to me as a resource when they had questions about barbeque. It all sort of kicked off from there! I also started sharing my recipes which I guess people enjoy and my Hardcore Carnivore seasonings. I always say that if I was a one-trick pony people wouldn’t keep coming back to my recipes and products but they are so I must be doing something right!
“I always say that it’s not about being a man or a woman, it’s about who the best person for the job is and I’ve made it my business to become the best person for the job.”
You really must be! I know you’ve said butchers you’ve met have been really generous with their time and knowledge as you educated yourself but have you faced any bias or discrimination at all, being a woman in a traditionally male dominated industry?
I think honestly I haven’t really faced any situations where someone has said ‘oh, you’re a woman you don’t know what you’re talking about’. At least, not in the community of people who follow me. Every now and then there’ll be someone that says ‘Well sweetie…’ but they’re few and far between. Even though butchery is a male dominated industry, I do think they mostly just appreciate what I do because I champion their craft and show it to be the artform it truly is!
Plus, I’ve made such a concerted effort to be good at my job, to make recipes that work and be really educated about what I’m speaking about – so much so that I went back to school to study Meat Science two years ago – so if you follow me or have heard me speak it’s pretty clear I know what I’m talking about.
I always say that it’s not about being a man or a woman, it’s about who the best person for the job is and I’ve made it my business to become the best person for the job. Although I am really stoked to see so many female butchers taking part in the WBC this year – I think Team Canada has two women in the team which is incredible!
It is! There’s a lot of representation in the 2022 teams. I also think you’re so right about butchery being much more of an artform than the general public realise too.
I think people underestimate how much goes into butchery - technique, skill, creativity and expertise. Like there’s so much you need to know regarding anatomy, then there’s the creative aspect for the value adding and there’s the added pressure not to waste anything so your technical cutting skills have to be spot on. There’s a lot of expectation and it’s a tough job!
Absolutely! So you’ve been living in Texas since 2015 when you moved over from Australia. What’s the biggest difference between Aussie and the USA – other than the brisket?
Well, it’s true what they say: everything is bigger in Texas! *laughs* And Friday Night Lights isn’t too far from reality. But from a meat perspective you see a lot of grain fed product here but there’s also a lot of distrust from the consumer because there’s less smaller butcher shops where you can go in and speak to your local butcher - so people are a bit more wary of the industry here. That’s something I’m trying to change.
“I think I come from a unique place as guest host… an everyday consumer who then became a bit of a ‘Meat Nerd’. I can speak both languages.”
You’re self described as a ‘Hardcore Carnivore’ – what’s your favourite cut of meat to cook or eat?
It would have to be a ribeye! Actually that’s one of the things I had to do when I moved to the states: relearn all the cut names. It’s like learning a different language, I say I’m bilingual in meat! For example, a porterhouse in Australia is a strip steak in the US and a porterhouse in the US is usually some version of a T-Bone elsewhere in the world - it can get very confusing! But my favourite by any name, in any country is ribeye.
The 2022 World Butchers’ Challenge is fast approaching and you’ll be MC’ing both the main competition and the World Champion Young Butcher and Butcher Apprentice competition. What excites you most about your role?
I’m really looking forward to the whole competition but I think I come to it from a unique place as guest host. Because I used to be just an everyday consumer who then became a bit of a ‘Meat Nerd’ I can speak both languages.
It’s going to be great to watch and understand what the butchers are doing in the competition and fangirl over them but also I'll be able to translate what they’re doing to the big audience at the Golden 1 Center in a way they’ll understand. It’s going to be a lot of fun!
