Tony DeBlauw, owner of the Caveman’s Cupboard, serves paleo-friendly foods during the Seaside Farmers Market each Saturday. Photo by Wendy O. Dixon
The Caveman’s Cupboard and Arrowhead Beef offer paleo-friendly foods for your inner caveman By Wendy O. Dixon
As more people become educated on the benefits of choosing whole, organic, nutrient-dense foods, many are opting for a recently touted eating plan closely tied to our hunter-gatherer roots, embracing a return to the types of foods our primitive ancestors likely ate — clean sources of foods that have not been exposed to pesticides and are free of gluten, grains, dairy, refined sugar and soy; non-processed foods that make for healthful meals, including grass-fed beef, pasture-raised fowl, wild fish and organic nuts, eggs, fruits and vegetables. It’s been around since the 1970s, but recently became popularized as the Paleolithic diet, primal diet or caveman diet. The concept is simply eating wholesome foods we are biologically designed to eat.
Tony DeBlauw, president of The Caveman’s Cupboard and director of online sales for Arrowhead Beef, discovered the paleo lifestyle six years ago and transformed his way of eating after years of indulging on bread, cereal and pasta.
“After college, I started becoming more aware of my health, stuff you put on the back burner when you’re younger,” he says. “I wanted to learn about getting closer to the source to the food you eat.” While looking for local grass-fed beef, DeBlauw discovered Arrowhead Beef, a family- and farmer-owned cattle farm in nearby Chipley, Fla. Co-founded in 2010 by George Fisher and Tom Pellizzetti, Arrowhead Beef is a co-operative of family farms and local processors featuring Parthenais and Parthenais-influenced cattle.
DeBlauw serves as the online presence for Arrowhead Beef, building the company’s website, handling orders, logistics, customer service and marketing. “I prefer to buy from people who believe in what they sell,” he says. “Arrowhead only sells raw packaged meat, any cut, not processed. We sell the tongue, liver and even the tail for people who are really interested in different cuts of beef.”
Now selling Arrowhead grass-fed beef at the Seaside Farmers Market, DeBlauw is expanding to other foods, introducing a variety of Cave Butters — nut butters that are 100 percent raw and organic. Flavors include cinnamon cashew, mocha almond blend, dark chocolate pumpkin seed and power butter — a mix of cashews, almonds, pecans, pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax meal, raw cacao and cinnamon. He has plans to expand to local retail stores soon.
DeBlauw warns that cooking with grass-fed beef is slightly different than grain-fed beef, noting grass-fed beef requires less cooking time. “With our steaks, I recommend a hot and fast method,” he says. “Get your cooking surface as hot as possible. In a cast iron skillet, add butter or animal fat, sear the steaks, flip and sear again, cooking the steaks in a total of five minutes for rare, which best retain nutrients. Let the steaks rest for at least five minutes for the juices to redistribute.”
The Caveman’s Cupboard is at the Seaside Farmers Market each Saturday. To order online, visit TheCavemansCupboard.com and ArrowheadBeef.com.
Visit the Farmers Market online
Tony DeBlauw’s Ideal Caveman Saturday Night Meal
Grass-fed New York Strip and a small piece of wild salmon; sweet potato mashed with garlic; and steamed asparagus — all with a good red wine. Dessert is seasonal fruit with coconut cream.