Category Archives: Tasting Charcuterie

The Country Ham-tacular

27 Monday Aug 2012

Posted by in Cured Meats, Dried Meats, Pork, Smoked Meats, Tasting Charcuterie

≈ 10 Comments

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It has been a long while since going all out in a meat festival. Over two years since hosting a bacon-tasting, a few of us have entered into a sacred ham sharing arrangement. It only makes sense. Country ham is the king of cured meats. Bacon is delicious, prosciutto and serrano are delicious, but country ham is like the best of both worlds. The only issue with country ham is how in the hell do you choose where to get yours – if you even have room to store an entire ham. The solution is easy. Find other ham lovers and diversify your ham portfolio. Make a Franken-ham. Continue reading »

Underground Food Collective’s Goat Sec and Nduja

02 Thursday Aug 2012

Posted by in Goat, Pork, Tasting Charcuterie

≈ 2 Comments

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Maybe I seek them out, but over the past few years, I have crossed paths with some of the country’s finest charcuterie makers. Every one of them have been amazingly nice and very generous with their time and knowledge. From Rob Levitt to Craig Deihl to Michael Ruhlman to Brian Polcyn to Chris Cosentino, each of the meat heroes has gone out of their way to make me feel less of a silly fan boy (which I am). Continue reading »

Flam de Peuada

29 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in Bacon Projects, Butcher Cuts, Pork, Rillettes and Other Potted Meats, Tasting Charcuterie

≈ 5 Comments

Each week this Spring, it seems,  a new flashy cookbook is released from one of the world’s cooks. We are talking about some of my favorites: Cosentino, Bloomfield, Pelaccio, Aduriz, but with limited time and resources, how can I choose? Damn that I have to choose, but I do. For me, instead of choosing between these new cookbooks, I have decided to wait to be gifted these books (given a May birthday and Father’s Day, there is still time) and to back fill my collection with some more classic cookbooks for cents on the dollar.  Continue reading »

Bacon Tastings: Møsefund Farms

12 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in Bacon Tasting, Cured Meats, Smoked Meats, Tasting Charcuterie

≈ 8 Comments

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I have reached my limit on Bacon. Not bacon, but Bacon. The desserts, the coffins, and festivals (where chefs have bacon shipped in and then trendify it) — all of it. The part that it is meant to commemorate, bacon, is all but eliminated and, in its place, gluttony has been substituted. When I see bacon on a menu item, it is simple to distinguish whether it is added to create balance and harmony or to advance and encourage gluttony. Not that gluttony doesn’t have any place at the table, there will always be special meals where indulgences occur, but the pride associated with the excess is what has gotten so deeply under my skin. Continue reading »

Pork Neck Bones: How to Succeed in Soul Food Without Really Trying

29 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Butcher Cuts, Offal, Pork, Smoked Meats, Tasting Charcuterie, The Low Country Sconnie, Turkey

≈ 2 Comments

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In the past. when looking at recipes that included smoked pork neck bones, I always asked myself if bacon could be substituted bacon for the neck bones. Smoked pork neck bones are not easy to find – they are a humble ingredient and most groceries do not get whole animals, so no neck bones. After a meal cooked over the past weekend, I now know that the answer is no, you can’t substitute them, and yes, you need to seek them out.

Bacon and pork neck bones are not even close. Both pork and both smoked, but then they diverge. The reason is texture and is hard to pinpoint at first. Then you wake up to pack the leftovers for work and a deli container of the okra soup falls from your hand and you find that the liquid has solidified from the rich gelatin in the neck bones. That texture softens when heated, but that added richness never goes away. Once you have the dish with it, the same dish without would never do. Continue reading »

Artisan Meat Share from Cypress

15 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Beef, Cured Meats, Dried Meats, Lamb, Pork, Sausages, Tasting Charcuterie, The Low Country Sconnie

≈ 3 Comments

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My Artisan Meat Share — Clockwise from top left: Finocchiona, pepperone, lamb salami, milano, snack sticks, Cypressata, lamb mortadella, bresaola, and nduja

A few weeks after leaving for Charleston, I still miss it. From the 80 degree weather to the Southern charm to the high concentration of amazing places to eat. I have a feeling that I would miss the coffee, ethnic foods, and proximity to family that I have in Chicago, but there is a lot to love about Charleston and the surrounding low country. Through the wonder of twitter, I was lucky enough to stumble into bringing back to Chicago a bit of Charleston in the Artisan Meat Share from Cypress Restaurant. Continue reading »

Charleston

08 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by in Miscellaneous, Tasting Charcuterie

≈ 6 Comments

One of my New Year’s resolutions was to further explore the cuisine of the American South. At that time, I had already started planning a trip to visit family in Charleston. People had talked about Charleston as a food town and I had read some about Sean Brock, McCrady’s, and Husk. I had also read stories from John T. Edge going on about Bertha’s. Besides those brief forays I knew very little. I had a few cookbooks that I referenced frequently. A short visit five years ago when I had food that was the Southern equivalent of what you would get on Michigan Avenue in Chicago. It was a pleasant atmosphere and inoffensive food. I didn’t see the wonder in Modern Southern cookery. Topically, I was intrigued, but skeptical. I loved the romantic idea of Low Country Cuisine and how it tied to my wife’s family history. It made me feel connected to both her and to a history that goes so much deeper that I knew at the time. However, outside of a few major dishes, I really had little idea of what it was. I knew about Hoppin’ John, collard greens, grits, and fried chicken. I knew nothing about okra soup, lima beans, giblet rice, and the like. Research would help open those doors, connect the dots, and see that the places like Husk, McCrady’s and Martha Lous weren’t that different.  Continue reading »

Bacon Tastings: Inovasi

08 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in Bacon Tasting, Pork, Tasting Charcuterie

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Being a city dweller, despite growing up in Wisconsin, I am predisposed to being skeptical of anything suburban. I had heard good things about Inovasi in Lake Bluff, but just haven’t made the effort to get out there. Everything that I hear is that the chef out there, John des Rosiers, has serious talent. He also has serious ambition as he has opened several small take-home outlets called Wisma. When a new Wisma opened a few blocks from work, I could no longer ignore. When I got there, they were putting their first package of bacon on the shelves. It was almost like they were waiting for a sucker like me. Continue reading »

Serrano Ham Fat and Pimenton Pumpkin Seeds

08 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Cured Meats, Dried Meats, Pork, Tasting Charcuterie

≈ 2 Comments

I can not tell you how much having children has changed and enriched my life in so many unexpected ways. For instance, having children has enabled me to reflect on my own childhood with a different perspective. Growing up, each Halloween, my sisters and I were each presented with a pumpkin that was grown specifically for us. How did we know? Our names were on the pumpkins. Not drawn and not carved, but like a scar on the surface of the pumpkin. We were always amazed. Later, we realized that if you etch names into the pumpkins while they are young and growing, they would in fact scar over with the names. Continue reading »

Bacon Tastings: Fatted Calf

29 Wednesday Jun 2011

Posted by in Bacon Tasting, Cured Meats, Pork, Smoked Meats, Tasting Charcuterie

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With a suitcase full of cured meats and coffee, I am sure that we stuck out, if only slightly, from the SFO travelers who likely are carrying wine, but I would almost guarantee that our smuggler’s booty was of as high or higher quality than the wine being carried back. The final meat parcel was one that I was looking forward most particularly – it was bacon from the previously profiled Fatted Calf. Continue reading »

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