If you visit 8 Hands Farm in Cutchogue, you will notice the wide selection of specialty patés, fresh sausages, and dry-cured meats on display along with more traditional cuts of meats and poultry. All of these foods are produced from animals raised on the 28-acre farm and are prepared by Julien Shapiro, a butcher, baker, charcuterie master, and former chef who has worked at upscale restaurants in France and the U.S.
Food critics have extolled Shapiro’s charcuterie skills. He is especially known for his paté en croûte, a French specialty with a blend of meats, nuts, fruit, cream and spices in a buttery pastry. Shapiro enjoys the discipline and challenge of creating complex foods at the farm. “Working here has instilled a sense of pride in my products, as well as a reverence for animals,” he said.
Working at the farm since 2016, Shapiro has also taken on the role of baker, specializing in sour-dough breads, made with whole grain organic flour. In a pinch, he will also use his skills as a chef to make consommé or other foods for sale at the farm, although that is not his main mission.
His mission is to bring back old-fashioned, traditional French food to the American table. “I like hopelessly dated French food,” he said. “I read old cookbooks from the 1800s in French.” Old-world recipes are his inspiration.
Raised in Wading River, Shapiro recalled that he started cooking at about age 12 or 13, when he made macaroni and cheese as a staple for himself and his sister, later adding different ingredients, transforming the simple dish to a casserole. But his career goal to be a chef was not yet formed. Instead, he studied art history at SUNY Buffalo, but that degree offered few job opportunities.
Shapiro was a frequent traveler to France, his mother’s native country. In 1997, he decided he would like to work in the food industry, and he went on to learn the necessary skills at a culinary school in Paris. Afterwards, he worked at Maison Blanche in Paris, a Michelin-star restaurant.
In 1999, he returned to the U.S. and landed a job in the kitchen of Campton Place in San Francisco. But missing his family, he moved to New York in 2001, where he worked with the late Gerry Hayden at Aureole, an upscale restaurant on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Hayden eventually opened a critically acclaimed farm-to-table restaurant in Southold, North Fork Table and Inn. Shapiro briefly worked at that restaurant before he joined 8 Hands Farm.
After his stint at Aureole, Shapiro moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked at several restaurants, including Palena. His inspiration there was Frank Ruta, a former White House chef. “I re-learned how to cook at Palena,” Shapiro said. “The cooking was old-world traditional and nothing was left to chance. It was a very organized kitchen, and everything we made had a recipe.”
While in Washington D.C., Shapiro volunteered to help at Miriam’s Kitchen, which served breakfast and dinner to the food-insecure. “We used leftovers from farmer’s markets and other donated food, and we served between 100 and 150 people per day,” he said. There he learned that every edible part of a plant or animal should be used, nothing wasted. “I came to appreciate that some people don’t have the luxury of eating whenever they want. Food is important,” he said.
Article by Diane Greenberg, Peconic Bay Zonta Vice President and Public Relations Chair
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