Pam Ginsberg - knife skills at the bone

Pam Ginsberg knows cows.

Or beef, to be more precise. And ham, and chickens. And sausagemeat, even. Pam Ginsberg is the butcher once drawing carnivores to her counter at Brookville supermarket on Connecticut Ave NW and now to be found at Waghal's Market in Spring Valley.

Pam loves a challenge as much as she loves meat. She can get pork with the skin on for a crackling roast, a shoulder of lamb and fresh ham with enough fat to welcome a generous mustard-powder-and-brown-sugar rub and multiple piercings of cloves. She wouldn't turn you down if you asked her for rattlesnake…

She was born into the work. Her father ran Eastern Market, the traditional individual producers' market at 7th and C Streets SE, until he died of a sudden heart attack in 1978. "I broke my first side of beef aged seven, standing on a milk crate," she grins, a butcher of the old school who knows her cuts inside out, so to speak.

Her favorite of the moment is one exclusive to Waghal's - their New York super sirloin. "It's the last cut of the strip before you hit the hip," explains Pam. In the photo she's holding up a thick one-rib Texas steak which she says is excellent on the grill and good for a gnaw once you've eaten the well-marbled meat.

A bone and a good marbling of fat give beef its flavor and texture. So what would she sell for the perfect Sunday lunch? "A standing rib roast. Some people like the bone off. So then I'll cut it away, and tie it back on. It's called a cradle. You roast it, then cut the string and lift the meat with a fork at each end. Makes it easier to cut, and you get more slices off it."

She lays a bed of celery in the bottom of the pan, pours in water almost to cover, and places the joint, seasoned with salt, pepper - sometimes some herbs, on top. She roasts in it an oven preheated to 425F, basting every 15 minutes, 10 to 15 minutes per pound for rare, 15 to 18 minutes for medium to medium-rare.

"Soon as the meat hits the hot oven, it starts to drip. With the celery, it makes the perfect meat stock, or jus. The quality of the beef is so good, it's really hard to ruin."

Horseradish sauce or a biting mustard are the established accompaniments, along with Yorkshire pudding. In the north of England, this is traditionally served first. The old Yorkshire saying, 'Them as has most pudding gets most meat' encouraged families on tight budgets to fill their stomachs, leaving little room for the modestly-sized and expensive roast.

Yorkshire Pudding
Serves 4

4 6-inch pie tins or one 11 x 7 roasting tin
3oz plain flour (never use self-raising)
1 egg
3 fl oz milk
2 fl oz iced water
salt and freshly-ground pepper
1 good tablespoons of lard per tin, or 2 for the roasting tin

Keep the oven at 425F.

Fifteen minutes before removing the beef to rest, put tins into the oven to heat.

Dump flour in a metal bowl. Make a well in the center. Into it crack the egg. With an electric beater, gradually incorporate it with the milk and seasoning into the flour. Add the lard to the tins to melt. Just before pouring the batter into the now-smoking tins, beat in the ice-cold water. Pour the batter into the tins and bake on the highest oven shelf until risen, 20-25 minutes for the larger tin, 10-15 for the individual tins.

Wagshal's Market, 4845 Massachusetts Ave NW, 202 363 0884.

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