Cypress began breaking down whole animals and creating their own charcuterie a few years ago. The restaurant even created an Artisan Meat Share Program, which models the CSA concept. Butchers, authors and chefs selected Chef Deihl’s cypressata has as a winner in the charcuterie category at the Good Food Awards. Butchers, authors and chefs selected cypressata

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Craig Deihl is the Executive Chef at Cypress and started to make in-house charcuterie in 2007. Craig puts a strong emphasis on locally raised meat with his Artisan Meat Share Program, for which recipients receive delicious local charcuterie made in the restaurant four times per year. The Cypressata is a blend of cured local beef and pork. Craig sources his black angus beef from MiBek Farms in Barnwell, SC, where the cattle rotationally graze on winter rye and summer grasses. The pork for the Cypressata comes from Keegan-Fillion Farms in Walterboro, SC, where the Tamworth hogs spend their whole life foraging in open pastures for grass weeds and roots. The hogs are supplemented with a low protein feed of corn, soybean meal and vitamins to allow them to grow slower and produce more flavorful meat. Craig thinks that charcuterie is going in the right direction with whole animal utilization and locally raised meat. Craig would love to learn from other skilled charcuterie producers from across the country in order to continue to improve his product while maintaining his southeast regional style.

This is the first year for these awards, which seek to “celebrate the kind of food we all want to eat: tasty, authentic and responsibly produced.” Awards were given to producers in each of five US regions, and other categories include: beer, cheese, chocolate, coffee, pickles and preserves.