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It's barbecue season, so steak and burgers are a menu priority - but are you brave enough to butcher your own?

The Ginger Pig, which has seven shops in London and another due to open soon in Wanstead, is a rather glamorous butcher. Stylish branded tote bags hang in the shop windows, it has its own range of chutneys and preserves, and a premium joint of beef can set you back hundreds.

This stylish arrangement greeted me when I arrived at the Moxon Street shop in Marylebone for an evening's beef butchery class.

If you're planning a dinner party and want to cook a joint of beef or steak, this is the class for you. Because, not only did we learn to butcher our beef, but we also learnt exactly what to ask your local butcher for, which cuts of meat are really worth the price tag, and how to cook them. Anyone squeamish about raw meat might struggle with the passing around and touching of different parts of the cow, but for everyone else, it's an enlightening lesson.

The Ginger Pig specialises in dry-aged beef. This means it is not vacuum packed - it is aged uncovered, in the fridges, giving it a depth of flavour your average supermarket steak simply can't compete with. I can vouch for this because, while one of the butchers leading the class, Perry, was giving us a lesson in the anatomy of the cow, the other, Borut, whipped up a delicious sample of fillet steak for the class to sample. The noises in the room were certainly appreciative.

Once we'd had our lesson - with opportunities for getting hands on with a knife and saw, we retired to our own butcher's blocks to create a côte de boeuf joint. Never mind the actual cutting of the meat, the hardest skill to master was the tying of a butcher's knot, but the sense of triumph at actually doing it was brilliant.

Then, after completing our joints and bagging them up to take home (a more than generous prize for our efforts), the group gathered for supper: roast beef (what else?) with dauphinoise potatoes and salad, accompanied by a glass or two of red wine.

This convivial element was a real treat. Standing informally around the butcher's blocks as we tucked into our feast, the classmates were given a chance to chat and get to know one another, making it as much a social event as a place to learn. The pace is relaxed with no rush to complete tasks - ideal for unwinding after work.

Just as I was about to leave, Borut stopped me in my tracks. 'You can't leave - we have pudding,' he said, before producing a tray of homemade chocolate bread and butter pudding the size of half the table. I was already full to bursting from the first course, but I couldn't resist, and I can confirm that Borut's pudding making is as good as his butchery.

Three-and-a-half-hour beef butchery classes cost £155 per person.


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