Savoring the Whole Hog- an Old World view.

Charcutepalooza! an archive of French/Italian porky goodness

2011-02-02T22:29:00.002+01:00

When the tide of good food starting rushing in, we all jumped for joy!
Then a meat storm happened. People were finding good farm raised products at their farmer's markets and in their CSA boxes.
Next a hurricane of butchers became 'cool' and pig tats appeared on all the wrong places.
So now, as the Salty Tsunami known as Charcutepalooza (created by the dynamic dames Kim Foster and Cathy Barrow otherwise known as The Yummy Mummy and Mrs Wheelbarrow) hits the international shores, we can say- we've been waiting for you all along! Welcome to our worlds. A world of charcuterie.

Our world is the Old World. As our banner says, we've been savoring the old world, one pig at a time for ...a while. Like a lot of you have been making hams, hang salumi, and grinding sausage longer than the trend, We- Judy Witts in Italy, and me, Kate Hill in France- began learning about this brave Old World centuries old trend when we both landed on foreign shores- about 25 years ago. We were thinner, younger...and considerably more naive.

So we invite you to look around here- a dual blog we started making while writing a conference seminar for IACP- called Saints Preserve Us- the tale of three pigs presented with Mr. Fergus Henderson, our meat mentor.

It started here: http://goingwholehog.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_archive.html and although we both are celebrating Charcutepalooza on our own blogs with new posts- there is a lot of good food here. Explore and enjoy! and don;t hesitate to ask us questions. or start a conversation about Italy vs. France- we love to play that game!

Judy is still cooking up the best of Tuscany at http://www.divinacucina-blog.com/.

Kate is still preaching the Gascon gastronomy at http://kitchen-at-camont.com/category/kates-blog/

Seed to Sausage learning on the farm in France

2010-08-09T08:44:00.003+02:00

We talk about all things pig here. We banter around those European meat terms- lardo and lardon, porchetta and jambon, guanciale and coppa like secret passwords to a private world. But in southwest France on a small family farm, the whole hog really begins with one small seed- of corn, wheat, barley, sunflower... and thus Seed-to-Sausage is born.

Come vote for Our Seed to Sausage video in Protein U's "who's your butcher?" contest.
Then come join us in Gascony for new Artisan Butchery & Charcuterie workshops beginning Sept 20 2010. More information is here on Kate's site- http://kitchen-at-camont.com/programs/working-cook/butchery/.

French PIG- the butcher & the cook April 2010

2010-03-13T14:14:00.000+01:00

If you can't come to Gascony, La Gascogne will come to you!

Join me and Dominique Chapolard of the Ferme Baradieu, Mezin, Gascony, France

for a series of French PIG workshops to be held in mid-April in four West Coast locations:

Napa, Sonoma, Portland & Seattle. We will be cutting and cooking before and after the sold out IACP conference session in PDX on April 24.

Each of these four French Charcuterie Cuts & Seam Butchery classes are unique:

Hands-on Full Day workshop w/ lunch & Porc & Rose' wine tasting dinner- Sonoma, CA
Evening Demonstration Charcuterie Cuts & Seam Butchery + Farm Dinner- Napa CA
Morning Hands-on workshop only, very limited space. Portland OR
Full day demonstration in seam butchery and charcuterie workshop w/ lunch- Woodinville WA sign up for The Herb Farm workshop here .

For more details on other workshops, go to http://kitchen-at-camont.com/french-pig-the-butcher-the-cook/ . interested in a French PIG workshop near you? contact Kate Hill via the comments below.

Sweet Onion Pork Stew- l'Escadaoun- a Gascon specialty

2009-09-17T18:58:00.000+02:00

My favorite French ‘pulled pork’ is called l'estouffade or l'escaoudoun in the Gascon patois. Tasted in a hideaway of a cafe in the Landes forest called La Croute du Pin near Reaup where it was made with the typique Noir de Gascogne pig, I re-created the dish here at Camont with most of the shoulder from Camas’ graduation pig. Once it cooked in the sweet onion sauce for a two hours, I ladled the sauce pork into large canning jars. When unannounced friends arrive for dinner, I’ll cook some Monalisa potatoes and serve them floating on an island of sweet onions pork, just like Madame did.

Recipe- for Estouffade de Porc- l’Escaoudoun

2 kilos / 4 1/2 lbs. of farm raised pork shoulder, cut into large cubes
1 kilo of onions, sliced thinly
2 soupspoons of duck fat
1 bottle of sweet wine wine (jurancon or cote de gascogne)
1/2 bottle madera, sherry or white port
1 generous glass of armagnac
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
a large bouquet garni- lovage, bay leaf, thyme
sea salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper, a lot of it!
a large pick of quatre épice (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves)

The basic recipe is to cook all of the above until the onions have melted, the pork is falling apart and the flavors of the sweet wine mingle with the onion in a caramel-colored sauce.

Cut #2- Pork Shoulder basics

2009-09-01T12:15:00.002+02:00

* credit for chart

The Shoulder Cut of Pork is one of the most versatile cuts of meat in traditional Italian and French cuisine.
In France, the shoulder or épaule is cooked, cured, roasted, stewed, braised and made into pâtés.
A succulent shoulder roast stuffed with prunes and shallots is a classic French Sunday lunch. This summer we butchered the graduation carcass with the intent to can or cure all of the meat from half a pig. As I made a list of what to make with each cut of meat, I worried over the shoulder. The 25 pound boston butt and picnic ham is a lot of meat. (chart and pix of American cuts here)

In the end, I decided on a smothered braised recipe I had eaten in a rustic restaurant in the Landes Forest. My escaoudoun a la Croute du Pins was made from artisan French pork like this farm produces.

Although the shoulder meatis fattier than some other cuts, it melts in your mouth when cooked well. Start to compare cuts in the butchers or supermarkets and then taste the differences by choosing two cuts and cooking the same dishes with both of them. The echine,high up on the shoulder makes a great roast but I prefer a braising and stewing the shoulder.

Maiale- Italian Pig

I wonder what Judy will make in Tuscany?

Ribs-in-Jar: french fast food

2009-08-30T14:31:00.001+02:00

This week at Whole Hog we started with the bone gnawing questions of what do Italians and French cooks do with ribs. Judy prepared a fabulous Naples-style Ragu here that turns into a Two-Meal Miracle. I decided to make a fast and furious rib dish to share with friends- French Fast Food.

What was so fast? I drove 4 kilometers to the nearest butcher (now that my 1-kilometer butcher shop has closed!)- 3 minutes. Bought the ribs- 2 minutes. Came home, cut them into single bone pieces- 6 minutes. Placed them in a large canning jar and poured marinade materials over them: a drizzle of our own honey, splash some red wine vinegar and apple juice & a generous pinch of salt and pepper- 4 minutes. Closed the jar, shaken not stirred and let rest while hanging out in the garden (read weeding!).2 hours doesn't count. Cooked the ribs over the grill with the sausage I bought for that night's dinner and then returned the ribs to the jar to store in the fridge.

Then I popped open a jar of simple summer beans I had canned last week (with thyme, bay leaf and Lovage)- 30 seconds. Placed the beans in a casserole dish- 30 more seconds. And slid them into a cold over, turned on a medium heat. 30 seconds de plus! Now just wait until hot- 30 minutes and EAT!

That's an easy 16 1/2 minutes of work, two hours of waiting, and 30 minutes to heat through.

Fast

French

Food.

I call it Ribs-n-Jar.

Not all French food takes a long time; the beans were done ahead of time one afternoon. It took me about one hour to shell and cook the fresh beans with the herbs and another 2 hour of canning time while I was doing something else (yup, weeding).Now I have three jars waiting for another fast meal.

The juices of the meaty ribs runs into beans to make a rich sauce. Beans. Ribs. What's not to like?
P.S. For all you "I don't have time to cooks", Check out some of the other things I have been cooking this week at my Kitchen-at-Camont here.

One Pot- Two Meals: Naples-style Pork Ragu

2009-08-26T17:46:00.005+02:00

When Kate tossed the proverbial bone- RIBS as our Franco-Italo challenge for pork this week, I immediately remembered a rich luscious sauce I had in Naples last year at the bread festival I attended.

Strangely enough the sauce is called Ragu Genovese- Genova-style sauce. The recipe is not from Genova, but it is rather frugal- as are the Genovese, using equal weight of onions to meat in the sauce. The ragu is a classic for the traditional Sunday lunch or holidays and evokes images of mamma up early at the stove with the large pot simmering away all morning filling the air with the profume of love!

It is a long, slow cooked sauce which develops a deep rich flavor lost in todays fast food world.

Not only is the sauce fabulous, but the technique of cooking whole pieces of meat in a tomato sauce, creates two meals from one pot of cooking.

I chose the meatier thicker ribs for this recipe, leaving them in large pieces, which can be then cut for serving.

Salsa alla Genovese

inspired by Favurite- Renato Rutigliano

The traditional recipe often uses a whole piece of beef, a potroast.

I have found many families use various cuts of pork, ribs, sausages and or necks to enrich this sauce.

2 pound/ 1 kg pork ribs

2 carrots
1 celery stalk

3 pounds of onions ( I used the local red onions)

2 cups white wine

1/2 cup olive oil

4 tbs butter

4 tbs lard

2 ounces pancetta or salami chopped into tiny strips or cubes

salt and pepper

1/2 cup hot water

1/2 cup tomato paste

1 cup tomato sauce ( optional)

-Finely mince the carrot, onions and celery together and place in a pan large enough to hold the meat and vegetables.

-Also add the olive oil, lard and butter. Add the chopped pancetta or salami.

-Season with salt and pepper.

-Place the meat on top and start to cook over a low heat.

-Stir the pot occassionally to prevent sticking, the vegetables will give off a lot of liquid.

-Cook for at least one hour. The onions should start to caramelize.

-Add the wine, 1/2 cup additions at a time, letting it absorb into the sauce.

-Add the tomato paste dissolved in the hot water and the tomato sauce. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.

-Cover and let cook for another two hours at least.

In Naples they say "pippare"- s tiny bubbling like the hot lava from Vesuvius!!!My friends actually cook the meat for at least 6 hours, you can immagine Grandmother getting up at 6am to have lunch ready at noon!!!

I cooked my ribs for two hours and then cooked the sauce for another hour. The sauce should glimmer when done and be very thick. Some people do not add any tomato sauce at all and more traditionally only tomato paste.

-Remove the meat from the sauce and keep warm.

-Serve the pasta with the sauce, a traditional pasta are Paccheri, a huge oversized hollow rigatoni.

The meat is served as a main course, mashed potatoes would be great to absorb the extra sauce!
I immagine this is where the idea of spaghetti and meatballs came from and Pollo alla cacciatore.Where meats are cooked in sauce and in America, the meatballs were left on the pasta! Chicken cacciatore is the same, often served with huge amounts of sauce, immagine how much nicer it would be to use that sauce on pasta and serve the infused chicken on its own.

France & Italy Redux- Pork Ribs

2009-08-21T12:21:00.009+02:00

When Judy and I began this site a million years ago (ok, 2006) we were planning a piggy adventure for the Seattle IACP seminar with Fergus Henderson (see blog archives in sidebar). It was a way for us to organize the presentation and present supporting materials before the food world had adopted the e-way wholeheartedly. Fergus charmed us, taught us, and inspired us as well as the other 200 people in the room that day. The feeling was reciprocated. He said in his usual understated way, "It makes me a bit giddy. Why is everyone interested in me?" So I explained gently to him, "Fergus, here on Planet Food, you are a god, a maestro, a brave pioneer. And above all, food people are seeking 'The Way' in a too-virtual world. You offer them something visceral. Something they can hold. Smell. Eat. Digest. The nose-to-tail way of living.

And so it went all weekend that spring in 2006... pork, porc, maiale.
Now is the time to revisit what we were just exploring then. In the midst of a meat manifesto, a bacon explosion, a carniverous craving for flesh, bone and blood-- we return to honor Fergus Henderson's parting words, "Hug your butcher, please.'

From now until April 2010 when we return to the Northwest, this time to the IACP conference in Portland-Oregon- city of foodcart dreams and un-restaurants- we will be hugging our favorite Italian and French butchers as well as helping you learn about the Euro-way of pork butchery and curing. Charcuterie, recipes, portraits, pig lore, rare breeds, home butchery, and more to follow as we walk you through this oldworld pigearth where farmers are butchers, butchers are cooks and cooks are philosophers.

When I began this summer session of B&C (Butchery & Charcuterie) boot camp at the Kitchen-at-Camont I had no idea how deep we would go. Bone deep. I knew I was in trouble when I found myself seriously look at buying this for the workshops ...until I saw the price tag.

This week in honor of the last Summer weekends, we began at the inside, the structural key to loving the whole beast. The bone gnawing basics. The fatlicking fingers of tender meat. in other words...the ribs. Plain and simple. RIBS. Nothing spare about them.

Let's look at RIBS- neither acronym nor just a spare part, ribs are the very foundation on which we hang our bbq skills. Sticky. Sweet. Savory. Spicy. Think again. Think the Italian way. What do Italians do with ribs? Where does the butcher cut them? Or in France, what are the natives doing with the stubby little ribs, just buying 3 or 4 at a time? Check in for the answer from divinacucina and katedecamont and their butcher friends, here on the Going Whole Hog Road Show- part 2.

And yes, we are twittering as divinacucina and katedecamont.

Merci to www.arthursclipart.org for the artwork.

A Passion for Pork

2009-08-12T10:34:00.009+02:00

I WANT YOU!

If you have a passion for pork like we do,
come and join Judy and Kate in their Whole Hog Workshops in France, Italy
or on the road.

Since we began the whole hog for our sell-out IACP conference presentation with the delovely Fergus Henderson of St. John's restaurant in London, there has been a lot of bacon under the bridge. We offer our personal Old World advice and flavors to the big new wwworld that craves the authentic at the table.

Workshops in France:

This February in Gascony, Kate Hill is celebrating All Things 'P' in France with a farm butchery course: cuts, home curing and classic charcuterie featuring the very old world Noir de Gascogne pig, cousin to the Tuscan Cinta Senese. For professionals and home butchers alike, we'll take the Whole Hog approach and with our master butchers breakdown an entire carcass in our own Kitchen-at-Camont.

Workshops in Italy:

Learn the secrets of Porchetta and other Italian specialties from Judy Witts, who has worked along side Master butcher Dario Cecchini and other fabulous butchers in the Central Market.

Italian specialties:
Porchetta: the how to primer
Soprasatta: Headcheese
Fegatelli: pork livers in caul fat-two ways
Roventini: blood "pancakes" savory and sweet
Lard- Tuscan Butter

On the Road:

Together Judy & Kate will bringing their favorite French & Italian butchers and bacon with them to the West Coast for a Spring Pig Frolic before the April IACP conference in Portland Oregon.

Want more information? leave a comment below.

Inspired in Bologna!

2009-02-06T20:29:00.004+01:00

La Salumeria di Bruno e Franco
Via Oberdon, 16
Bologna

When in Bologna, one is in the land where pork is King!

On our day trip yesterday to meet with friends and do a little market filming, the selection preserved pork products was incredible.

Emilia Romagna is famous for it's pasta as well as it's pork, recipes change with every household and village.Very few recipes travel far in Italy,so the variety is incredible. Each area has it's own ways to prepare preserved pork. Salami's, sausages and prosciutto's. I was amazed at the wonderful variations on one of my favorite winter pork products, ciccioli, crispy little pieces of pork left over after rendering the fat. Here where was a moister, pressed version, made more like a soprasatta as well as the little crispy bits I amused to seeing.

But what I really want to try ( next time) is the pressed lard!
It looks very much like marble.

Doesn't that look fabulous???

Not having had enough pork- lunch today was a Spaghetti all'Amatriciana my way.

It is the first recipe I cooked for my now husband. When I served it, he walked out of the room without eating it at all. I had made it wrong!
He is my Italian life coach as well as culinary coach and I NEVER let that happen again!

Today he ate it all- I have had 25 years of practice!

My Amatriciana for two

200 gr spaghetti ( tradition is bucatini, a thick hollow spaghetti)
100 gr ( 3 ounces) smoked pancetta ( or thick sliced bacon)
1 small red onion, sliced
1 clove garlic
2 tiny birds eye chili's
olive oil
1 cup tomato sauce

Slice the pancetta into thin strips.
Saute' in pan until crispy.
Remove and saute the onion in the fat left from the pancetta, adding a little extra olive oil if needed.
Add the sliced garlic and break in the chili peppers. ( do not touch your eyes!)

Once the onion is cooked, add the tomato sauce and salt to taste.

Drain the spaghetti ( save some of the pasta water).

Place the spaghetti into the pan with the tomato sauce and saute.
the spaghetti will finish cooking by soaking up the tomato sauce.
Add some of the saved water if it gets too dry.

Add the crispy pancetta bits now and saute' again and serve immediately.

NO cheese!

I am leaving on Sunday for a month of teaching on the West Coast so I am building up my brownie points by cooking my heart out!

Dinner tonight was roast pork shins, stinche di maiale, one of the first dishes I had in Bologna about 20 years ago. Oven-roasted with simple rosemary, garlic, olive oil and sea salt.

Bake in parchment for 2 hours at 375 (or until the meat is ready to fall off the bones).
The last hour I threw tiny new yukon gold potatoes in the pan with sea salt, rosemary and olive oil. They melted in our mouths!

The secrets of the Italian kitchen.... great ingredients- prepared simply!

Fall is for Pigging out

2008-11-16T15:11:00.025+01:00

nothing is wasted in Florence's Central Market!

fabulous selection of salami's

As fall comes in, our palates goes to the "P" words

Porcini

Pumpkin

pumpkins and fall squash

Polenta

baked polenta with kale and tuscan white beans, " farinata"

and of course
PORK!

suckling pig is always fabulous for a party

Kate and I both agree pork and beans is fall's comfort food.
Rib-sticking, heart-warming, belly filling

We thought it would be a great idea to warm up the fall
with a virtual gathering of recipes
inspired by this classic combination.

Kate, the Queen of Cassoulet, offers week-end workshops
and also provides cassoles by mail for your own
weekend Camp Cassoulet at home.

In my hood, Tuscans are called "Mangiafagioli"- bean eaters
and have a special way with pork

and beans both!

It is comforting that yearly seasons repeat themselves
rewarding us with meals to remember!

Soups or stews
what is your favorite?

freshly shelled cannellini beans are so Tuscan

Join us in celebrating by sending in your personal favorite.
Hit the market, grab a pot and start cooking!

Need beans?
Contact Steve, our personal bean guru at Rancho Gordo.
Check out his new book on beans
Wonderful gift for xmas with a selection of Rancho Gordo beans!

Thank you in advance for sharing any secrets from your kitchens!

A nice way to start the holiday celebrations!

Send us a link to your recipe on your blog or site and we will collect the links here!

Join us in pigging out!

Bourbon BBQ beans from Craig "Meathead" Goldwyn

Kate's very faux but yummy NOT cassoulet

Jonathans Table in Queens, NY a cassoulet

Diva's oven-roasted garlic'd beans with ribs

Diva's Tuscan Chili

Boudin Balls!

2008-07-30T17:17:00.003+02:00

When we were in New Orleans for IACP last April,
I organized a first night dinner to introduce friends.

It had to be Cochon!
We filled our table with incredible pork bits one of our favorites
were the Boudin Balls.

That is really pigging out,

Fried anything is lovely of course,
but these were great.

Immagine my joy when I got an email from the Rice Board
with the Recipe

as soon as it cools down here I am making some!

Let the good times roll!

It's done!

2008-05-04T10:16:00.006+02:00

Here is the final product, my first homecured meat!

Capocollo

I can't wait to have my maestro's feedback, I will take it to those that helped from my neighbors
the Tinti's, to Dario and Orlando and to the market in Florence!

This foto was taken a week ago when I returned from New Orleans.
I thought it was still a little pink,
so I rewrapped it and stuck it in the aging room ( under the stairs to the attic)
and am going to reopen it today for snack.

Will reshoot a foto and weigh it again.
I weighed it when I opened it last week and it was about 1,600kg
so not quite half it's original weight.

The Maestro of my Maestro

2008-02-24T13:53:00.008+01:00

Orlando, the Maestro's Maestro

now mine too!

no man works alone, Dario's team

Since Renaissance times, apprentices have worked with masters to learn.

In many ways, nothing has changed.

Although downtown Florence may look like any other town with

Footlocker, Disney Store, and McDonalds,

if you look hard enough,

you will still find artisans producing products as their fathers did

and their father's fathers did.

I feel honored to be a friend of Dario Cecchini's, my meat master.

His butcher shop is like an artisans workshop.

Faith Willinger called him the " Michelangelo" of butchers.

His shop is the Uffizi of beef!

I went to hang out the other day in the Bottega, which is always the best way to learn.

While he works, he holds court more than just selling meat.

Food and wine are flowing,

old friends and new friends,

passer-bys and those that go out of their way to find Dario.

As friend enter, Dario stops work to catch up on news.

This is the Italy I moved here for.

Friend are more important than work to Dario, here with Loys

Dario Cecchini with Vincenzo Chini, artisan butchers.

Vincenzo is in Gaiole and raises Cinta Senese pigs

Their fathers and grandfathers grew up together.

Dante From Udine, closed his restaurant and now teams up with Dario

He is a Maestro at the art of hand-cutting prosciutto.

Hanging on the wall are Dario's guanciale, cured pig cheeks.

It is mostly used in Rome for making Amatriciana sauce, instead of pancetta.

I had a chance to ask Dario's Maestro, Orlando, who has known Dario since he was child, when Dario's father would go to buy their meats from the company that Orlando worked for.

Passing on tradition and also maestro's!

I took advantage of my luck and got more tips on my Capocolla.

Orlando's advice for final curing.

Wash the salt off the meat and let sit at room temp until dry.

Make a rub with garlic and black pepper.

( no more salt!)

I also added chili, a southern touch.

I then re-wrapped the coppa and have hung it to dry in a cool room.

I was inspired by the Coppa I had in Calabria

from the chili festival in Diamante, Calabria

Love the way they form them with the bamboo sides.

Spicy capocollo.

Here is my version, thanks to Maestro Orlando.

ready to be tied and hung for aging.

Here are Dario's Guanciale, made from the hog jowls, or pig cheeks, aging hanging from the rafters

Now the most important ingredient:

TIME

See you April 21!

it should lose about 50% of it's present weight.

It is important to tie it tightly as it will get smaller as it dries too.

Phase Two

2008-02-21T09:22:00.003+01:00

I am not so sure how this is all going to work out.

The weather as been so bizarre, clear crisp sunny days.
We did hit freezing here the other day, but it is not the usual winter.

I salted and resalted the pork and for fear of the wam weather left it in the fridge.

At the end of the salting period, I rinsed off the pork and let it sit out for the day to dry.

I then made the final rub with rosemary, garlic, black pepper, chili powder and salt.

Gave it all a nice rub and with the butcher paper Gabrielle gave me
I am going to tie it up to hang and age later today.

The meat weighed 2,400kg when I started and now weighs 2,100 kg.

In my reading, I think it says it should lose 60% of it's weight.

Dario is back from vacation so will go to my local Master of meat and get more info!

New year - new recipe- join me!

2008-02-05T19:29:00.000+01:00

Gabriel Tarchi, mercato San Lorenzo

Winter is here, but the weather has been to warm to prepare pork!

My friend with pigs have not yet slaughtered as it has to be colder to make prosciutto.

Global warming at it's worst!

Last year my neighbor, Signor Tinti,

lost all but one of his prosciutto's due to the heat.

No fridges here.

He hung his hams in the guest room, windows opened for fresh air.

But it was unusually warm and they got the MOSCA!

the guests in their "aging" room

When you prepare aged meats as it as been done for generations after generation,

but the weather changes, traditions will also have to adapt.

I hope that doesn't mean that all food will be exactly the same,

made under the exact same conditions.

The beauty of Italy has been it's artisans.

This year I am joining in with my fellow shoppers at the COOP grocery store

and following the book which was given out to customers,

am making a CAPOCOLLA.

This is a whole 5 pound piece of well marbled pork.

Follow me and keep your fingers crossed!

I bought ordered my meat several weeks ago
and picked up my capocolla February 3.

The instructions in the book on salting your own meat, which was given out by the shop,

gave very detailed instructions on preparing a ham, to be a prosciutto.

For the capocolla,

very simply stated,

massage the meat with salt,

as for prosciutto.

Let sit for 3 days, resalt.

After 12 days, rinse off salt, season, and tie and hang.

Ok, I needed a little more direction.

I went to my source at the Central Market, Gabriele Tarchi.

His dad was my January pin-up boy last year, holding a fresh ham.

For years he was worked with those who raise the animals his father sells,

but now that dad has retired Gabriele has taken over the stand.

HE KNOWS.

So following his guidance,

I tweeked the instructions.

Along with the salt, which I had added chili powder

to create a more southern version for the rub,

Gabriele suggested adding garlic paste.

Instead of just massaging in the salt, he suggested to create more of a crust, covering it more.

Also, to let it sit on a cutting board, tilted to let the blood flow off of the meat,

instead of sitting in the liquid.

I began on Sunday and will re-salt and Wednesday.

Wish me luck!

Never one to waste, when I trimmed the pork to even off the edges,
Here is what I made.

A riff on Dario Cecchini's Carne in Galera
a recipe where meat was cooked in vinegar
and herbs
to help maintain it while on long voyages.

I also think that vinegar takes away any bad flavors
old or wild game may have.

Pork in vinegar
serves 2

8 ounces pork ,cubed
6 shallots, peeled and halved
olive oil
1 cup or more red wine vinegar
rosemary
lots of sage
salt.

Brown the pork and the shallots in olive oil.
Season lightly with salt.
Add chopped rosemary and sage.

Add 1/2 cup of vinegar, cover and cook.

If needed while cooking add more vinegar.

When the meat is tender, adjust seasonings.
If too tart from vinegar, add some water.
I added more vinegar and more salt.

FAVOLOSO!

Before serving I had some left over roasted veggies I threw in.

cooking time, about 40 minutes

Whole hog for the holidays

2007-12-02T23:16:00.000+01:00

EAT PORK

A splendid table of Cinta Senese products at a local fair in Italy.
Really whole hog! Prosciutto, sausages, salami, blood sausage, cooked livers packed in rendered lard, preserved loin, more tender than prosciutto,
inspiring me for a winter project.

We have been lax in keeping up with the whole hog blog, but cooler weather will have us back dreaming about preserving pork in many ways and markets inspiring us to cook on!

But with the holidays coming
I recieved an email that brought a smile to my face.

I am so grateful for Grateful Palate
their catalog is a thing of beauty.

When we did our presentation in Seattle on Saints Preserve Us,
with Fergus Henderson
from Saint Johns in London
I ordered Bacon Brittle for our tasting.
LOVED IT
Just one of the fabulous items in this great catalog!

Other items I have seen for pork lovers-

When I taught at Ramekins in Sonoma and cooked on
the Big Green Egg
I was a instant convert!

I would get the biggest Big Green Egg,
everything we cooked on it
was better,
faster
and easier
than in the wood burning oven
or the Weber.

Then when I was looking for info on the web on
roasting a whole pig
I saw THIS

a roasting box
to do whole hogs...

let the partying begin!

happy holidays

Celebrate the PIG!

Over the Tuscan Stove

2007-08-26T22:30:00.001+02:00

Which Celebrity Chef are You?

You are MARIO BATALI!
You're not one for details, you throw it together and, well, let's just hope it tastes as good as it looks! Molto Mario is your show!

How do you compare?
Take this test! | Tests from Testriffic

Porceddu

2007-08-24T19:38:00.000+02:00

Mr. Mediterranean, Clifford Wright, has just relaunched his fabulous website.

Summer is here and I couldn't help but be inspired by his recipes for
sardenian roast suckling pig, called Porceddu in dialect.

In Florence we are lucky to have a couple of places,
that for a table of 8 will do a porceddu dinner!

Next time you are here.. great dinner party!
Almost like a treasure hunt first finding the suckling pig, then the Mirto!
and any decent dinner would finish in Filu ferro or Mirto Grappa!

SF Salami - Chris Cosentino

2007-08-16T09:53:00.000+02:00

Surfing the net, found the great news!
Boccalone, the big mouth, is the new salami producer in SF.

Chris Cosentino is one of my hero's!

They have created a CSA for salumi!
Join the Salumi Society and stop by Incanto for your pickup!

If I wasn't in Italy.. I would be so there!

Pig+Cookies = Fast Track

2007-08-13T13:09:00.000+02:00

foto- Laura Krantz NPR

When not tending my own e-garden here in Southwest France, I listen to the dulcet sounds of American's NPR while doing the dishes, mending an parasol, or just slacking off. Always on the alert for Swiney news that's fit to print... I offer you all an Oreo and a Summer Fair corn dog...on the hoof. Some days you just gotta wonder at how we all make a living.

Kate & Bacon

Real Women Eat Steak

2007-08-12T15:37:00.000+02:00

What's better than sitting down to a nice grilled Steak?

Sitting down to a nice grilled steak and sharing it with your man!

A loaf of bread
A jug of wine
a 2 pound T-Bone

and thou!

Times have changed!

I don't know about you, but I was a vegetarian for years.
I don't eat a lot of meat, but when I do, I want a nice big steak.
Forget sweets, Steak is my Tiramisu, Pick-me-up.

For some reason it just energizes me.
Maybe that is why it is great first date food?

Here is how to recreate the perfect steak at home.

BYOB--- Bring Your Own Boy!

Bless This Grill

2007-08-06T10:02:00.000+02:00

August 10th is coming right up, the patron saint of the Market in Florence, San Lorenzo.

Considered by some to be the patron saint of chef's for how he was martyred.... Grilled alive!
Tales tell that he asked to be turned over as he was done on one side.

La Notte Di San Lorenzo, the night of Saint Lawrence, is also the night of the falling stars, and a wine festival Calice alle Stelle.

What better way to celebrate than a great grill and some fabulous wine.
I am off to the store right now to get inspired!
Why wait for the 10th!

There are just two of us, so a simple grill:
2 boneless chicken thighs
1 small rack of ribs
2 sausages
1 pork tenderloin for a second meal

no marinades, no brining , no sauces
just pure and simple grill!!!

serve with salt, lemon and if you want sauce on the side!

Buona Grigliata

Bless this Pig

2007-06-24T09:40:00.000+02:00

San Antonio Abate, patron saint of pigs and other farm animals

Stefano Benicista of Falorni's Butcher shop i Greve
Temple to pork

Cinta Senese, the same pig in the carved image of San Antonio

inside Falorni's

On our week in Chianti, we spent a morning in Falorni's shop in Greve,
here tradition blends with modern day marketing
Prosciutto's hanging from the ceiling waiting for their moment.
But on the shelves are picnic slices ready to open and eat.

Artisan butcher's are now preparing ready to cook products which mamma used to make
Freeing up more time to spend with the family

wide variety of prepared meats

our Arista a pork roast already boned, seasoned and put back on the bone to roast.

The woodburning oven gave a fabulous smokiness to the roast

our finished product

Roasted pork with lentils

Playing with Fire! Light 'em up!

2007-05-18T14:22:00.000+02:00

What happens when two transplanted American cooks meet at a wood-fired oven in Tuscany? Sparks fly and the heat is on!
A week of wood-fired ovens artisan pork, and the best butchers in Tuscany inspired by two cooks who love meat and the artisans that produce it!
Join Kate Hill ( The French Kitchen) and Judy Witts ( Divina Cucina) in celebrating summer.

Carnivorous grill girls, butcher babes and BBQ boys are welcome!
June 18,19 20, 21, & 22- 2007
One day workshops 290 euro
All five days 1,200 Euro

Hands-on classes with meals and artisan tours.

Hotel not included.
Contact Kate ( kate@thefrenchkitchen.com) or Judy ( diva@divinacucina.com)

Recipe: Saucisse Fraiche Southwest France

2007-03-03T13:39:00.000+01:00

I have made sausage in homes and farms all across Southwest France. Each home, family, farm does it slightly differently: more or less salt, pepper freshly ground or store bought, spices, garlic, wine, armagnac... but the sausage made in butcher shops and by artisan farmer/butchers is basic, pure and relies on one most important ingredient- the pig.

The pork comes with it's own special flavor, the just right amount of fat and a natural succulence improved with cooking over an open grill.

So when asked for a basic recipe, I turned to the experts at hand and offer these words of advice from my favorite very local butcher at Brax.

Saucisse de Toulouse
1 Jambon- skinned, boned and cut into large pieces- weigh
1 Shoulder- skinned, boned and cut into large pieces- weigh

Salt-16 grams per kilo
Ground Black Pepper- 3 grams per kilo

1 liter cold water

• Grind the pork with a #10 plate (the size of your index finger).
• Add salt and pepper to water; pour water over meat and mix with your hands
• Stuff into casings.
• Cook while fresh or freeze.

Merci!

one of my many expert butchers!

Outdoor Oven Cooking in Tuscany.

2007-02-27T19:31:00.000+01:00

Going Whole Hog in Chianti-
with Judy Witts and Kate Hill

The heat is on! Carnivorous grill girls, butcher babes and BBQ boys welcome.
Wood fired ovens.
Slow roasting spits.
And the best butchers in Tuscany.
It is all about meat and the people who produce it.

Join us in the heart of the Chianti wine-making region this June to go Whole Hog with Kate Hill of the French Kitchen and Judy Witts Francini of Divina Cucina. Hands-on cooking classes, grilling workshops with some of Tuscany’s master butchers, and using a terracotta oven for beef, pork and poultry. Nothing is safe from our grill!

Pizzas, porchetta, Florentine steaks, short and long ribs, and other Tuscan oven fare shares the spotlight with Kate’s French Kitchen pantry of ‘Gascon steaks’ (duck breasts with foie gras!), Saucisse de Toulouse and a traditional wood fired cassoulet in it’s traditional clay cassole. The friendly rivalry of French and Italian soul sisters, Judy and Kate, just keeps the cooking lively as the wine and grappa flows. There might even be a smuggled bottle of vintage armagnac to share as the embers die down and the sky fades on these longest summer days. Sparks from beehive ovens to Tuscan ovens rival the fireflies to decorate the nights.

Workshops with:
Dario Cecchini- Panzano in Chianti
Fratelli Falorni- Greve in Chianti
Giacomo Ferreti- Monsummano Terme
Visit Colonnata- home to Tuscany’s famous LARD, aged in marble boxes in the hills above the marble quarries of Carrara.
What is a meal without wine? Meet the producers of some of Chianti’s best wineries to pair with out meals.
Tour Florence’s Mercato di San Lorenzo, discover the secrets of generations.

For more information: http://www.divinacucina.com/code/classchianti_07.html

That time of year!

2007-01-13T15:54:00.000+01:00

we accept reservations for products to salt:
-hams, shoulders, bacon and collar

always the season for spit roasting a suckling pig
Saturday at the Castelfiorentino market

Time flies!

It was a year ago that Kate and I began this venture into preserving and documenting the Pig in Gascony and Tuscany for our presentation in Seattle last year with Fergus Henderson.

Little did we know how many others are also fired by the passion of pork!

2007 is the year of the pig, starting in Febraury 18th.

The celebrations begin at Kate's in Gascony for New Years and in June come to Tuscany.

Winter is a slow season as the earth takes a long sleep ready to explode in spring but for those who work the earth.. there is no rest.

All are preparing the larder for the cold winter months ( if they arrive this year!)

Join us as we explore the season, with our teacher's, those that work the land and those that feed the workers.

Who could ask for a better school?

Maiale in Latte- Pork cooked in Milk

2007-01-13T09:28:00.000+01:00

I had this recipe for the first time when I visited friends in Parma.
It is not a Tuscan recipe.
So I tried to recreate pork in milk the other day.. delicate and moist, my way!!!
My florentine husband liked it so it passed!!!

I sauted leeks and carrots as a base, when golden, I added the meat.

I browned the boneless pork roast, (I like the piece that is closer to the neck with two colors of meat.)

When the meat was browned, I added with whole milk, one liter.. 4 cups, salted to taste and cover to cooked on low heat for about an hour.
I added some fresh thyme and orange zest to the milk as aromatics.( not traditional).

( YOU MUST USE A LARGE PAN AS THE MILK WILL BOIL UP)

I turned the meat halfway through and stirred some during the cooking.
After the milk boils up, foams, it starts to curdle... don't worry!

When the meat is done, remove from the pan.

I used a mini primer... and pureed right in the pan.
Put the meat back in and let sit.

Slice and serve with the sauce on the side.

You are supposed to splash with white wine or vinegar when the meat is browned, but I didn't.

Enjoy!

Pigging Out in Tuscany

2006-12-29T19:23:00.000+01:00

Pigging Out

Here is a peek into what is in store for those lucky ones that will join Kate and I in our summer session of Pigging Out in Tuscany June 17-23, 2007.

Markets, meats, butchers, grilling, woodburning ovens...fabulous food and wine.. in Paradise!

Details coming in January

Join us in celebrating the Pig....

We will be having workshops all year, both in France and Italy and November in Shanghai!

Celebrate... and go WHOLE HOG with us!

The festivities for Chinese New Year begin on February 18th!

Celebrate..and let us know about it!

Email us for more info.

This little piggy.

2006-10-23T22:33:00.000+02:00

When recently touring with a group of professional chocolate makers from the Ecole Chocolat school, we stopped for lunch after visiting the master chocolate maker Roberto Catinari and then Slitti chocolate shop in Monsummano Terme, a spa town outside of Florence.

After a week of chocolates, salt was calling my name!
What better cure than PORK!

Lucky for us as we were driving down the road we spotted “OSTERIA IL MAIALETTO” the Little Pig.

Upon entering we noticed this was not just a local snack shop as it appeared from the outside, but nstead a fully stocked butcher's counter with a huge selection of regional salami's, a wall of prosciutto's and several jars of unknown products packed in oil.

The walls were covered with lovely black and white foto’s of pigs.
My kind of place!

The menu was fabulous with tastings of all the products in the butcher’s case.. and more!

Pasta, grilled meats, perfect potatoes and desserts, all made there.

Turns out that the shop is an annex of the Macelleria da Giacomo Ferretti and their home grown hogs!

I loved my first visit and cannot wait until the next, and next time I am going without having pigged out on Chocolate first!

Worth the Drive from Florence just to eat here.... plan to have chocolate and coffee after at Slitti...double the pleasure!

Macelleria da Giacomo
and the Osteria il Maialetto

Monsummano Terme ( across the highway from Montecatini Term

It's OFFAL

2006-09-02T11:24:00.000+02:00

SF's chef Chris Costantino is the West Coast's offal chef.

Incanto in SF offers whole hog dinners and Chris has recently started his own blog on the subject
Offal Good

Next trip to the West Coast I'm going!

More pork?

2006-07-01T15:24:00.000+02:00

Just found a fun site that is featuring food stories!

Cooking up a story
looks like a fun new site!

Next story... going whole hog!
I am there!

Today's special

2006-06-09T08:22:00.000+02:00

Headcheese anyone?

Saturday Snacks… pigging out

2006-05-20T21:03:00.000+02:00

As we were driving back to Florence today from Certaldo, we decided to take a scenic road, passing by where Andrea used to ride his bicycle from Florence outside the city with his friends, going to the countryside for the day.

Taking the road, backwards as it were, and going back into Florence we passed through the village of Cerbaia and Chiesenuova heading towards Galluzzo, one of the residential areas of Florence built after the war.

I have always heard the stories of the wild bike rides, rolling hills and fabulous sandwiches at Giotto.

I was in luck, today it was open as we passed.

the shop for the sandwiches is the door in the left

As is typical, no real signs outside with the name of the shop, only tables on the sidewalk across the street, filled with young people on bicycles and motorbikes, enjoying a sunny Saturday.

We left the car in a parking lot in front of another 2 newer shops which have opened up, reaping the benefits of Giotto’s fame.

I entered the tiny shop, more of a food store, alimentari, than a restaurant or trattoria, but at the end of the shop counter filled with meats, was a small corner with a cutting board and glass case with schiacchiata, Florence’s famous flatbread.

Florence is famous for unsalted bread, shocking most palates, but schiacchiata is a salted bread, brushed with oil and also sprinkled with salt before baking.
This fabulous crunchy oily focaccia is made in the back room of the shop.

It makes incredible sandwiches!

I had mine with raw sausage, salsicce.
(not bad for an ex-vegetarian!)
I am addicted to this rare treat in Tuscany, often raw sausage is mixed with stracchino cheese, a soft tart specialty and can be served raw or heated in an oven.

DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!
I always ask, even in Tuscany if a sausage can be eaten raw.

Andrea went classic with Prosciutto Toscano.
Prosciutto Toscano is slighty drier and a little bit saltier than the Parma ham.
Parma is cured first in salt water baths where as Tuscan hams are packed in salt.

Tuscan hams are often given a final rub with lard and pepper, giving another kick of flavor.

When you take a piece of prosciutto and put in on your tongue and taste the flavor...
That is UMAMI.... Yummy to me!

Stop by if you are passing this way!

Giotto
open on Sunday ( you can call and reserve the schiacchiata as it is sooooo busy on Sunday)
closed on Wednesday

Via Volterrana, 275
tel: 055/824-2220
Chiesanuova V.P ( Val di Pesa) not far from San Casciano

Giotto

2006-05-18T10:19:00.000+02:00

Both

julia moskin

rw apple

The New York Times

contribute to

keeping the whole hog alive!

Merci & Grazie

J & K

photo:

Tim Clinch

Listen to Us!

2006-04-29T15:34:00.000+02:00

Listen to an interview done by Don Genova of Pacific Palate, who attended our lunch at Salumi and presentation Saint’s Preserve Us.

Left to right: Nathan Fong, Armandino and Don Genova

Thanks Don!!!

I wish you happy butchers and happy pigs!

IACP- Saint's Preserve Us - Part two- Porco Maiale From Pig to Pork Tuscany

2006-04-12T18:55:00.000+02:00

In Tuscany I am very lucky to be able to buy almost any pig part I may need to follow the Nose to Tail philosophy.

Living in a land where war raged for years, food is a treasured item, those remembering when there was none. Animals are raised and killed with respect and love as they will, tomorrow, be on the table and, still for farmers, provide nourishment and sustain them through the winter.
Although war no longer rages on Italian territory, the raising of animals for food and hunting are part of everyday life. The role of the Norcino, or pork butcher, is still needed. When one has pigs, a norcino is called in for the killing and preparation of the salami, prosciutto and spalla to be aged for the winter.

Grocery stores are quickly replacing the local markets as women go to work to supplement the family income and leave the kitchens armed by patient and loving grandmothers always ready to cook and feed the family.

The markets are home to traditions. Being a butcher is still an honored art, beginning young, apprenticing, training to finally know the animal and handle knife. When shopping at the market, there are no plastic wrappers with meat in styrafoam trays, but rather sides of beef, waiting to be cut by the master butcher.

Shopping requires a large act of faith.

One must establish a relationship with the butcher and place your family's happiness in his hands. The recipes is explained to the butcher and he chooses the correct cut for the dish.
Often also giving recipes and recommendations on how to cook it, for how long and what to serve on the side. Perhaps, suggesting a better cut, or recipe for a piece of meat that inspires him that day.

In speaking with Fergus, he stated we should all " Hug our butchers".
I always try to repay the service I recieve from my butchers, by commenting in a loud voice at the fabulous piece of meat I recieved the day before, or how great the new recipes was they gave me.. of course a bag of cookies goes a long way too!

Carpe Diem is the mantra for the market, let the seasons, the harvest and the masters guide you to subliminal bliss. I prefer to shop first then plan my menu later instead of the traditional plan first theory. Use what is the best in season, the price will be lower, and you need to do simpler recipes as it is at it's peak.

My personal mantra is to spend more time shopping and less time cooking. Following the instructions of my market masters I cannot make a mistake!
Ingredients are the most important part of a recipe, not the recipe itself.
High quality meat needs no other sauce than olive oil and salt... of course good oil and good salt on good meat.

Americans spend more money on personal property than food... Italians more on food.

I believe that the people that raise our food for us are intitled to make a decent living, and selling lower quality food requires cutting corners, using antibiotics, hormones, steroids and other things I cannot pronounce to save money on the raising of animals..

Pay more for higher quality...in the long run, your health will benifit from it as well as your lifestyle!

Let's raise the bar for all of us..eat less meat if you must.. but eat better meat!

Near me is a local farmer, starting a new service, e-breeding. You can adopt a pig online and contribute to how it is being fed and support your local farmer. In the end, you recieve fabulous pork raised with organic foods and the best of care!

Explore the cheaper cuts of meat, not all of us want pig's ear salad, or blood sausage everyday, but with good cooking techniques, slow stewing and the double cooking techniques often used to flavor meat, you will be surprised at the variety of parts you will adore!

Viva Pork Belly and Pig Cheeks!

IACP part one: Le Prince de Janvier- a day in the life of a French pig

2006-04-11T22:36:00.000+02:00

The best days are cold
Frost in the morning air
Cold clear dry afternoons.

Fields are at rest,
Cows fattening with calf,
Ducks already resting in their golden fat in jars
Lined up by body parts: legs, wings, necks, gizzards…

The French pantry is an Ali Baba’s cave
of summer fruit and golden fat.
Color coded vegetables from the potager line the shelves-
red tomatoes, haricots very verts, golden apricots.

This day begins the last work of the winter-

The last porky activity to finish stocking the larder
for the year to come. Killing the fatted pig.

Once again, I turn to my neighbors, the people who turn dirt into food.
A tractor rumbles already as I arrive Chez Sabadini--
La Ferme Bellevue.

I am a cub reporter at the scene of this gentle crime.
Camera in hand and brain on note taking mode.

Denis is animal husband and knife master,
The farmer’s wife, Brigitte, gathers tools,
utensils,
boiled white linen cloths
handwoven generations of pigs ago,
Plastic tubs and basins.

Grandmere Yvette is already cooking,
Pots of vegetable-scented bouillon,
perfumed with an armload of herbs,
Kilos of leeks and onions,
Colored with carrots and onion skins.

Grandpere, Camille, hangs back;
No longer strong enough to hoist the carcasses,
Tie the knots,
he watches some, says little.

Oncle Louis has left his dairy herd for the day to come help.
There is a sister and brother-in-law,
Squeamish city folks.
A neighbor drops in to help,
Grabs a scapper and rolls up his sleeves.
And an American friend and I to lend our muscles and appreciation .

Enter the pig.
A cross between a great white & Yorkshire,
docile, well-fed and taken care of,
she is easily coaxed from its pen into a portable cage.
She is one of a half-dozen pigs raised for the family and
a few of us lucky neighbors.
The cage is lifted by tractor into the open air shed barn
where the gentle slaughter and hanging will take place.

Later the butchering and transforming of meat into food,
the cooking and the char-cuit – or charcuterie,
moves to the garage (a sort of spare, second kitchen)
now crowded by the giant lemon tree
perfuming the refrigerator cold space.

Hog-tied, the pig is lifted, back feet out from her cage by ropes,
block & tackle, and the muscles strength of three men.
The pig’s own weight keeps her from bucking and fighting,
the blood rushing to her head, makes her light-headed and less resistant. There is a low insistent grumbling- not the horrible squealing we hear about.
The Sabadini’s work quietly.
The intense calm that prevails is only broken
once the animal becomes meat.

All of Denis’ movements are sure and swift and
above all silent. Talking is in shorthand;
Gossip and joking is delayed until the first, life-ending cut is over.

Denis’ knives didn’t come from a fancy kitchen shop,
rather the farm store up the road, Terre de Sud.
They have been sharpened and honed by time and experience to a long, thin, efficient blade.
He turns his back to us all.
After a quick whip of the chef’s steel,
he turns to the hanging pig.
Oncle Louis and Mark hold the forelegs
Denis steps to the wide white throat and silently,
With a surgeon’s precision, touches the killing place,
Pauses then drives the blade home and down
opening a three–inch mortal slash.

As the first blood spills,
propelled from the beating heart,
Brigitte passes a waiting basin.
Caught in the bright blue plastic bowl
The color-clash is as shocking as the act.

A throaty sigh accompanies the pig’s last moments.
She is held down and hugged into repose.
Long after the basin of blood destined for boudin or
blood sausage is removed,
Brigitte and the uncles continue to hold the pig’s carcass
until it is still
and dead.

The pig is now pork.

For Kate's photographs shown at the conference please see the Flickr badge at the bottom of the page or click on http://www.flickr.com/photos/34091428@N00/sets/72057594104672330/

IACP-Saints Preserve Us! in a nutshell

2006-04-11T19:57:00.000+02:00

For those attending the IACP Seattle conference presentation, here are the notes from the 'Saint’s Preserve Us!' presentation as promised. In a series of following posts, Judy and I will share both photos and notes from our presentation and an interview with our honored colleague Fergus Henderson. We ask that those wishing to contribute to this blog with source materials in the form of links to other blogs and websites, do so in the comment area or email us material suitable for posting in Word document form. We especially welcome references and links to other culinary professionals, farmers, butchers, etc “preserving culture by preserving food”. Photos will be handled as well as we can manage- any technical assistance is most welcome. Thank you all for your great interest and participation.

For those wishing further first hand experience in the European Culinary Playground of Farms, Charcuteries and Restaurants still producing artisan meat products in time-honored tradtions, please contact us for further information about a Winter 2006-07 Hands-on Chef's workshops in England, Italy and France: "Pig, Cochon, Maiale=pork".

Going Whole Hog in Seattle

2006-03-30T17:08:00.000+02:00

Seattle welcomed the IACP convention by truly going Whole Hog!
Diva Fergus and Kate ( left to right)

Pikes Market's mascot Rachel, show's Seattle's passion for Pork.

We began our stay with a sit down lunch and tour of Salumi, Armandino Batali's restaurant and shop.
one of the more Nose to tail dishes, Ear Salad! was fabulous, better than the one I tried from Fergus book, the secret was sauteing, not frying!

Nathan Fong and Don Genova from Vancouver with Armandino.

We got a private tour of the ageing rooms after lunch.

Our presentation on Artisan Pork was well received as we sent off our listener's to hug their butcher's and embrace the pig, Nose to Tail with Fergus Henderson.

Kate's lovely slide show on the silent ceremony of the slaughter was moving, while my market shots brought hunger..and the request for a calender of the Men of the Market.

Stay tuned for updates!

Market Junkie

2006-03-14T19:45:00.000+01:00

My name is Judy and I am a Market Junkie!

I can't help myself,it's better than TV,better than a movie,it improves my Italian and every time I go I learn something new.

Since I am still on my search for pork recipes, today I decided to try a prepared porkbelly porchetta I have always had my eye on.

Not all of us can do a whole hog.. or even a whole suckling pig, so this is a wonderful warm winter meal.. fatty and suculent.

I bought mine from one of the market's older butchers, Vasco, at the Soderi stand.

Simply Divina!

The pork belly, called Pancetta fresca is laid out flat, if you are lucky enough to get it with the skin, leave it on and then score it!

Today it was without...Vasco cut off a piece for me, about a one kilo piece ( 2 pounds)

Vasco has his blend of salt and herbs ( each butcher has his own, my personal recipe is below)
He then sprinkled it generously with his herb mixture.

love the knife... BIG enough???

Rolled and tied the roll with cotten cord.

Gave me cooking instructions 2 1/2 hours at 375.

I let it sit for about 20 minutes and then cut thick slices.Fabulous.
It could only have been better with the crispy skin left on!

What's not to love?

My Tuscan Herb mixture is a blend of rosemary, sage and garlic all chopped finely with sea salt. For roast pork I like to add some fennel pollen and a little black pepper. Some butchers also add some Spezie Regina and old blend using cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, corriander and other spices. A Renaissance flavor combination, used in savory and sweet recipes.

A Day with Dario

2006-02-27T11:07:00.001+01:00

I feel very blessed. When I first came to Italy, I met several people with a passion for Tuscany that changed my life. Burton Anderson, wine expert,who's book on the winemakers and their wines, shows a true love for the people behind the bottle. His later book The Treasures of the Italian Table, did the same for the products near and dear to his heart; Pizza and Coffee in Naples, White Truffles in Alba, Unsalted Bread in Tuscany and more. He then introduced me to Faith Willinger. Faith's book Eating in Italy, was full of fabulous information, one of which was this wild butcher, in the middle of Chianti in a village I hadn't heard of, Panzano. Faith calls the shop "The Uffizi of Meat."

It was love at first site. Dario Cecchini's passion exudes from every pore and is contagious.

Like it the book "The Little Prince" I was the fox, wanting to be tamed and to earn friendship. I would come to the shop, stand in the back and listen to Dario preach, buying something to try from the fabulous preparations in his counter, more like Tiffany's than a butcher shop.

Each time I would come to the shop, I would get a little closer, ask more questions, getting more involved until I was actually working with Dario in the shop.

Dario is an ARTISAN with definite belief's and those are his Bible along with Dante's Divina Commedia which he has learned by heart!

To shop at Dario's is not for everyone. A long wait is mandatory, but while waiting, Dario is more than generous with tastings of his products and wine, which take the edge of the long wait. Friendships are bound during the wait, each of us sharing recipes, favorite restaurants and events not to miss.

The shop itself sets the scene, filled with artwork hanging with salami's and garlic ropes, bookshelves filled with friends books for reference,

Often an unprepared client will come in an make the common mistake of thinking that this is a butcher shop like others and ask to buy hamburger, a small salami or slices of prosciutto for a picnic! Dario screams at them ( all bark and no bite) sending them to the other butcher in the next village for the "Tourists".

If you pass this test, and learn the Cecchini way.. you will be rewarded. Shopping at Dario's is proof of my theory, spend more time shopping and less time cooking.
The time spent waiting in Dario's ( yes it can be an hour!) is less time spent in the kitchen cooking and more time spent with friends and family.

The festive atmosphere is created by Dario's mood and reflected in the music being played. Yesterday was Jazz then Opera.

Dario's Disciples are bonded together by passion for quality, in what they are buying and in life style. Those who spend the time to search out artisans like Dario are rewarded in more ways than a good meal.

Advice on visiting Dario.

Dario is working and is an artisan.

When entering the shop, always say Buongiorno!
In Italy it is considered rude to enter a shop without acknowledging the people working in the shop, this goes for the girls selling clothing as well as your butcher.

Always ask before taking a foto.
My husband is also ademant about this, taking a foto of someone is an invasion of their privacy and it is a sign of respect to ask first.

Allow a couple of hours to enjoy the experience. This is not a place to rush. Dario may be preparing food for a restaurant order and stop in the middle for a phone call, leaving you waiting. Patience.. please! This is not a grocery store. It takes getting used to the fact that the client can wait. But if you create a bonmd with Dario, you will have a friend for life. He speaks Italian and French fluently and a little English.
His family has been butchers for three generations and this is his life, not just a job. Open yourselves up to a new experience and you will learn. It is fabulous to see an artisan working with such passion!
if you are in a hurry, there are grocery stores in the nearby villages where shopping seems normal. It is fun to visit grocery stores and markets wherever you go and be part of the experience.

Even if you don't have a kitchen, there are things you can buy at the Macelleria Cecchini to take home.

There are some already cooked products for a easy meal picnic, such as the Cosimino meatloafs ( on the left) or the Arista in Porchetta ( on the right) a slow roasted pork roast, as well as pate's, salami ( he hand slices it, so not too thin), a few ragu's already cooked just boil up some pasta. Peposa, a wonderful slow-cooked stew heavy with black pepper and garlic. Tonno di Chianti

I suggest:
Profumo del Chianti, an herb infused salt that is addicting! It comes in jars or nice thin, light vacuum packed bags!

Mostarda Mediterranean Tooting my own horn here as this is my recipe I created while working at Dario's. A Tuscan version of a pepper jelly,which Dario serves on Cosimino, the meatloaf he sells cooked, and it is also fabulous on Pecorino Cheese, and with the grilled pork shoulder chops, Scamerita which are sold with a dry rub of fennel pollen, ready for grilling.

Fiori di Finocchio
wild fennel pollen. Once you smell this..you won't be able to live without it! When one eats out and is knocked over by the food in a restaurant, often the chef has used one tiny ingredient that takes the recipe to another level. Fennel pollen is one of these. When fennel grows, first you have the pollen, then the flower, and finally the fennel seed. The pollen is so intense with a heavy anice, curry-like profume, it suits the fatty pork chops well. It is also wonderful on other fatty foods such as fresh pancetta, duck breast or salmon.

Sunday is market day in Panzano and the first Sunday of the month is the Artisan's Market day and the village is filled with fabulous stands.

A word to the wise!
DO NOT GO INTO DARIO'S WITH A ROAST CHICKEN FROM THE SUNDAY MARKET!

Now I think you are ready for Dario!

Buon Appetito!

And thank you Dario for existing!

Fridays with Fergus 5

2006-02-24T15:54:00.000+01:00

I have always been curious about what people do with the "other" parts of the pig.
So Fergus' recipe for Sorrel, Chicory and Crispy Ear Salad appealed to me.
The salad is simply the greens dressed with a mustard and caper vinegrette and garnished with fried pig ear strips.

Since I was boiling away, also decided to do the
Tongue and Beetroot Salad and have two salads.

Here in Tuscany it is normal to see all the parts of the cow, Florentines love tripe and other OFFAL... which is really good prepared well!

I have tasted all four of the cows stomachs, the most famous here being the last of the stomachs, called Lampredotto, which is used in the sandwiches sold at the street stands all over town.
We can also buy the udder, achilles tendon, cow face and the phallopian tubes and uterus all precooked and ready for the second cooking which then flavors and tenderizes even more!

When shopping for pig parts, I can buy the ears, tongue, feet and tailsand even a whole head.

I bought the ears as pictured in the foto on yesterday's blog and a small tongue cooked the ears and tongue yesterday and let them cool.

The beetroot salad was meant to be prepared with a salted ox tongue.
I simply cooked the small pig tongue with the ears in salted water with onions as we would here in Tuscany.
Fergus' recipe requires salting the beef tongue for 7 days before boiling.

When we prepare out boiled beef dinners, the meat is used as is straight from the market instead of brining.

I did brine the pork belly for the recipe I did and found the sweetness a little strange for my Tuscan Palate.

I loved the Tongue and Beetroot Salad, it was lovely, but the Crispy Pig Ears.. were not worth the mess!

This is not a recipe to do at home!
There was hot oil everywhere!

I saved some of the pig ears ( they were big pig ears!) and will cook them Tuscan style in white beans and a tomato sauce.
I tasted the pig ears after they were boiled and they do have that "lip smacking" fattiness that Fergus refers to and a richness but that gets lost in frying!

I immagine that it will instead enhance in the beans cooked in sauce as would the pig skin.

I'm all EARS!

2006-02-23T14:37:00.000+01:00

Getting ready for Friday with Fergus!!!

Really going WHOLE HOG in Berkeley!

2006-02-18T15:17:00.000+01:00

This is where I wish I was!!!

This time every year Oliveto's restaurant in Berkeley goes whole hog.
Chef Paul Canales really goes all out.
Check out his menu below-

This year, Paul Bertolli, who left Oliveto.. is opening FRA'MANI artisan salumi's.

East Bay look out!

Here is the menu for this year's dinner

THE WHOLE HOG 2006
Tuesday through Friday
February 21 - 24

Reserve early for this exciting event. 510 547-5356.

In spite of our Whole Hog Dinners representing an enormous challenge for the kitchen at Oliveto (some of our dry-cured meats are prepared 18 months in advance!), this event has proved to be the most fun and the most rewarding.
The dinners recapture an old tradition among farm communities in Italy. A local norcino, or roaming pig butcher, slaughters and butchers the pig, then helps cure much of the meat for the farm family's use throughout the year. At Oliveto we follow in this tradition and take it further by using every part of this "most generous animal" in imaginative and delectable ways.
That includes making many different kinds of terrines, sausages, and pâtés, stews and long-cooked dishes, dishes with offal, a meatball dish, pasta sauces such as sugos and ragùs, cured, smoked, and aged cuts, and our choucroute garni, complete with house-made sauerkraut.
Our pigs come from Paul Willis' hog farm in Thornton, Iowa-our liaison to over 400 farmer-members of the Niman Ranch Pork Company. The pigs we prepare and serve roam free, socialize, eat well, and are fat and happy, raised under the strict protocol of the Animal Welfare Institute. To this year's event we will add another element, that of celebration, for it is in the first half of 2006 that Oliveto's past chef, Paul Bertolli will launch his new salumi business.

THE WHOLE HOG 2006
A la carte menu
Dry-Cured
Soppressata
Crespone
Felino
Chorizo fresco
Toscano
Fino
Lonza
Spicy coppa
Prosciutto

Potted and Formed
Pate capriccioso
Pork Liver and Black Trumpet Pate
Ciccioli
Coppa di testa
Mortadella
Salame cotto
Prosciutto cotto

Offal and End Cuts
Fried Pork Trotter and Brains with Blood Orange salsa
Terrine of Pickled Pork Ears, giardiniera
Classic boudin blanc-e-noir with Aged balsamico
Warm antipasto of Pork Tongue, Artichokes, and Herbs
Gratinata of Pork Tripe and fagioli tondini Beans
Crostone of Fresh pancetta with Bitter Greens and Chanterelle Mushroom conserva
Salad of Pork Kidneys, Watercress, and Mustard Vinaigrette
Blood Pudding with Dried Fruit mostarda

Soup and Pasta
Pork Rib and cavolo nero Soup with Garlic crostini and Cracklings
Gnocchi del Cosentino with Little Pork Meatballs
Risotto alla pilota
Pennone and Calabrese Sausages
Cannelloni of Pork and Green Garlic
Raviolone of Pork Shoulder "Cooked Around the Clock"

Hot Specialities
Braised Pork Belly Stuffed with Fennel and Green Olives
Pork Bacon Chop with Fava Bean Puree and salsa rustica
Spit-roasted Oliveto Fresh Ham with Marsala
Pork scallopine with Black Truffles and Polenta integrale
Zampone Braised in saba
Spit-roasted Pork "pastrami," Spare Rib, and Grilled Classic frankfurter with sauerkraut
Charcoal-Grilled cippollata a-punt-a-coltello with Fried Shoestring Potatoes and Two bagnets

Vegetable Side Dishes
Rapini
Potatoes Fried in Pork Renderings
Chicories with balsamico
Bianca di Spagna Beans cooked with Smoked Pork Hocks
Puntarella
Polenta integrale
Garden Lettuces vinaigrette

Sweets
Winter Citrus Compote with Blood Orange and prosecco gelee
Bacon Ice Cream
Sweet Potato Flan
Rosemary sorbetto
Sgroppino
Chocolate Banana Cream Pie

Bacon and Eggs- Italian style

2006-02-17T18:31:00.000+01:00

In Italy Friday the 17th is a bad luck day...so decided to not do Friday with FErgus but to play it safe and make some Italian comfort food.

Bacon and eggs take on a new meaning here as a pasta sauce for a winter's lunch.

Last trip to Rome I stopped by Annibale's Butcher Shop near the Piazza del Popolo.
He is to Rome what Dario Cecchini is to Chianti. So where else would I go to get a Guanciale, a cured pigs cheek, bacon like, to make some of Rome's best recipes such as Amatriciana Sauce, Gricia and of course Spaghetti alla Carbonara.

Carbonara sauce is a classic, but as such has many interpretations. Today I was following my friend Jo Bettoja's Recipe from her book "In a Roman Kitchen, Timeless Recipes from the Eternal City".( Wiley and Sons, 2003)

Jo left a career in modeling and fell in love with Rome, and with Angelo!

Her recipes are from her cooking school which she and her friend started in Rome in the 70's, as well as from friends, family and an occasional cab driver!

Real Carbonara is made with egg yolks, grated pecorino romano and pepper. NO CREAM..
it is tricky..and today it didn't turn out creamy as it should,when I do my version I get it right!

I will try again tomorrow and take another foto.. of the creamy sauce!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Jo Bettoja
for 4 or 5

1 lb spaghetti

8 oz pancetta or guanciale, 1/4 inch slices, cut into thin strips
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
3 tbs heavy cream
1/4 cup freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese
2 tbs freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Salt
Pepper

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente.

While the pasta is cooking, cook the pancetta in a deep skillet
(which will hold the pasta later) about 5 minutes until golden.

In a small bowl, beat the whole eggs, yolks, cream, pecorino Romano and Parmesan. Seaons with salt and pepper.

Drain the pasta and pour into the pan with the pancetta.
Stir to mix well.

Lower heat and add the egg mixture, stir quickly to prevent from curdling.

Serve with more pepper and cheese on the side.
Bon Appetito!

Today I used no cream, but added some of the pasta water to temper the eggs.
Usually I add the eggs off the heat, and they remain creamier.

Must have been the Friday the 17th... bad luck.. that made my eggs scramble!
They were fabulous anyway!

A Picture says 1000 ...

2006-02-16T18:51:00.000+01:00

Bilbao Spain

Mercado Ribera

Saturday Morning

Feb 4 2006

photo: Mark O Howerton

Fridays with Fergus-4

2006-02-10T21:18:00.000+01:00

What I ate in two settings at Fergus Henderson's St.John Restaurant

on February 2 & 3 2006

with Tricia, Judy, Tim, Mark, John and ... Fergus.

4/11's

madeira and seed cake

champagne and anchovy butter on toast

starters

Roast Bone Marrow & Parsley Salad

Snails in Oakleaf garden

mains

Teal and Beetroot

Crispy Pig's Cheek and Dandelion

Blood cake & fried eggs

Woodcock

Rabbit wrapped in Fennel Twigs & Bacon

sweets

Eccles Cake & Lancashire cheese

Treacle Sponge & Custard

Rhubarb eton Mess

Ginger Loaf & Butterscotch Sauce

Pigging out in other places

2006-02-10T20:45:00.000+01:00

This past couple of weeks has been spent doing homework.

Really!

Both Kate and I attended Gourmet Voice in Cannes.

Here we met Làzlò Szucs from Hungary, who told us about the Mangalica Pigs , that were almost extinct breed after the war and are now thriving thanks to several cooperatives.

This week, Làzlò is filming on Pork and Paprika, sausage and salami making traditions in Hungary. Wish I was there!

I think they are beautiful! They look like wild boar with a permanent!

There was also a tasting of the Real Iberian Ham , which will soon be available in America. We here in Italy of course have easy access, although at the one shop I can get it, they only bring in the highest quality and it sells for 75 Euro a kilo instead of the 23Euro that Italian prosciutto goes for. The Pata Negra, named for the pig used, is also avialable in a younger version that also sells for around 25 Euro a kilo.

I heard rumors that the first Pata Negra's are already being ordered for America at $1,000 a prosciutto!

But here is some information on when and what will be brought in.

A lovely light lunch, at the hotel where the conference was being held, was a french club sandwich, bacon served sort of as a salad!

Do you see a theme here?

In Nice, we had lunch at La Merenda, what everyone said was the BEST food in Nice.. no reservations, no phone.. packed.. and what I felt was an Italian menu, pasta with pesto, tripe... but they had an Andouillette sausage that was fabulous.

Then off to London, to meet with our Guru, Fergus Henderson and lunch at the Temple!

We ate and drank our way through a fabulous lunch with Fergus, highlights..

The bone marrow and parsley salad ( the parsley is left whole, not like mine on the blog) .
My snail salad was lovely, recreating a garden like image!

The pig cheek salad with dandelion greens was one of the real winners and Fergus ordered the fried tripe with fried potatoes ( next time I am getting that), served with a vinegar dipping sauce with a whole pickled shallot.

A traditional tart served with and some great cheese and the Bumblebee dessert..
things did get a little fuzzy after the Champagne, red wine, dessert wine and the plum grappa!

If I lived in London, I would eat here often as the sandwiches on their homemade bread in the front dining room also looked really fabulous.

What trip to London would be perfect without Bangers and Mash, served at a fabulous pub near our friend Tricia's house.

And then a tour of the wonderful Borough Market, and the Artisans.
Tricia new them all, as she will be heading up a fabulous Food Lovers tour around England this fall.

I got my lessons on green ham, blood sausage from the butchers who raise their own pigs and fabulous cheeses from Neal's Yard Dairy.

And before leaving Trish cooked up a traditional breakfast with English ham, blood sausage and eggs.

This week.. yogurt and fruit!

Friday with Fergus 3- Bone marrow and Parsley Salad

2006-01-24T16:15:00.000+01:00

Am a little late with this, but was so easy and perfect for a blustery windy day!
Ran down into Florence to the market today after a meeting and asked my butcher for bones for marrow. He gave them to me for free.

Usually Italians use the shanks with the marrow for Osso Buco,cutting through the bones and creating 1" high beef disks which are braised for 2 hours. In Milan, the bone marrow is the fat of choice for making the saffron infused Risotto alla Milanese which is served along side the Osso Buco, making it a one course meal.

My husband said that the this recipe reminded him of Osso Buco with the tradtional Gremolata, which is served on top..( gremolata is chopped Italian parsley, lemon zest and garlic). The best part, and hence saved for last, is getting the marrow out of the bone at the end of the meal, and the last morsel is eaten on bread. Savoring it!

Being just the two of us, got 2 lovely bones, and put them standing up in a pan and into a hot oven.
Roasted for 20 minutes.

The house smelled fabulous.

Took them out of the oven, and quickly chopped some Italian flat leafed parsley, capers and tiny red onion, instead of the shallots Fergus uses.

Dressed the Parsley Salad with olive oil, lemon juice and a sprinkling if sea salt.

The bone marrow is scraped out of the bone onto toasted country style bread,

sprinkled with sea salt and then topped with the parsley salad.

Silky mouth feel, rather like the whipped lard we have here in Tuscany, and the acidity from the lemon in the parsley salad was perfect.

I am a big fan of salsa verde which to me takes food to new heights, and this dish is no different.
A lovely glass of Chianti.. and Bob's your uncle!

Some Pig Blogging Weekend

2006-01-14T09:54:00.000+01:00

In honor of the Prince of Winter and San Antonio Abate, we are celebrating the Whole Hog here, and with the help of some friends share the festivities.

As Kate mentioned in a previous post, a farmer and his pig have a sacred relationship. One raises one's food with respect. As Fergus Henderson suggests, the animal should receive the same respect in the kitchen and be used Nose-to- Tail.

Let's see if we get recipes for everything but the OINK!

Bless these Recipes and their Cooks. Click here!

Our pork loving friends:

David L. from Paris's Chinatown had a work out making his Sui Mai, which has my mouth watering already.

Derrick was the first to send in his contribution for making your own Lard.

Typesetter from Milano wrote in English about Cotecchino, the cooked Salami so popular at the holidays served with lentils. She has more pork additions in her blog ( mostly in Italian)

From Sweden, Anne send us her Pork with Roots, perfect for a cold night.

You can never have too much Bacon, says Michele with her contribution of Pasta Carbonara!

Sylvie's recipe has a surprise ingredient!

A lot of mouths have been watering at Luisa's homecured bacon from Michael Ruhlman's new Charcuterie book. BLT's anyone?!

Laughing Emma from NZ broke down the sau-sages for us into enticing chili-infused ease.

I had to stop myself from making these oh-too-decadent Breakfast Cookies from Jennifer in the 'Cuse. Now that's putting your bacon where your mouth is!

Not one but TWO posts from MagicTofu- some people just can't get enough pig love.

Clotilde almost fooled us, but even 5 percent counts! oink/quack/oink.

Breakfast is served with memories at Sasha's House. Jiggety-jig.

Clare turned the world upside down from down under with her beans and pork!

British Bangers rule! Amy fell in pig love in London and still gets her kicks out of the frying pan...

A bit of gossip and a promise of good things to come from Cookiecrumb north of the Bay.

Rob in Toronto town must be challenging MagicTofu (it's a boy thing?) and is doubly blessed for a Boarish Bit of Italy and a must read for us all!

Sam shreds her way into the weekend with 14 pots, count them-14, of .... pork rillettes of course!

"These off cuts, innards, and extremities are the sardines of the meat world." who else but Brett!

Sexy, sexy, sexy hazelnut pork pate in a Melissa's lunchbox.

Comfort us with ham hocks and gravy from Susan's lovin' farm- and a special "Hey!" to Donkey Doodle Dandy from Sant'Antonio.

Terry in Eugene, gave us her thoughts on This Little Piggy

In honorihttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifng the Whole well-loved Beast, Christine sends us an Oh, Henry! story of Pig & a great recipe to go with it.

Daniel's post on Egullet for Cooking 40 pounds of pork make great reading!

Tana's Ode to the Pig provides some thoughtful links as well as a tasty recipe.

Kate's singing in the French Kitchen.

Judy's eating sweet boudin crepes at the blessing and wondering all about the Tuscan great bounty from the pig!

Happy New Year from Judy and Kate and all the piggies!

Blogexed-

From friend Heidi Cusick Dickerson-"Hi Kate, I wanted to send you the information on the black footed pig producer in case you can use it. I got the information from the book Pig Perfect by Peter Kaminsky. Salaison des Pyrenees in Borderes sur Gers. Owner is Frederico Bonomelli (a Franco/Italian for your story about the Italians in southern France!) He also produces Dauguin's magret de canard. In Time magazine I just read that the jamon iberico made from acorn-fed black footed pigs will be imported to US in 2008. At least 200 customers have deposited $199 each to purchase the hams when they come in and will cost about $1000 plus. However the first chorizo and sausages made from these pigs will be available in the US early this year.

And a note from the Cuisinier Grincheux- On Tuesday January 17th the students and chefs of the Academy of Culinary Arts in Mays Landing New Jersey will be breaking down two whole pigs which will then be turned into hams, sausages, etc. for use in their Charcuterie class. Any pictures from the Sabadini's farm would be greatly appreciated teaching tools. Almost like being there. Cranky

Dear Cranky- especially for you... stay tuned. I'm dancing as fast as I can!

Friday with Fergus 2- Pumpkin and Bacon Soup

2006-01-13T16:49:00.000+01:00

The clear winter skies, the fields white with the night's ice made me want some soup to warm us.

Fergus' Pumpkin and Bacon Soup sounds like it will hit the spot.

Pumpkin and Bacon Soup
Fergus Henderson
Nose to Tail Eating

3 onions, peeled
3 leeks, peeled
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
olive oil

1 kg piece of smoky streaky bacon, cubed or in chunks- keep skin in one piece

4 tinned tomatoes
1 pumpkin
3 bay leaves
a bundle of thyme and parsley tied together,
3.5 liters of ham or chicken broth
sea salt and pepper

Chop your onions, leeks and garlic. Put a good dose of olive oil into your pot, add the chopped vegetables, and cook but do not brown. Add your chopped bacon and it’s skin. When these have released their fat, squish the tomatoes in your hands and add them, giving your dish a slight blush.. Let this all cook down until you feel they have gotten to know each other, a gentle 25 minutes or so. While this is happening, peel, seed and chop your pumpkin into approximately 2.5cm chunks. Add these and let them cook for about 5-10 minutes. Then add the bay leaves and the thyme and parsley bundle. Now add the stock, enough so you end up with an Artic Sea of soup with icebergs of pumpkin bobbing about in your broth. Simmer until the pumpkin is soft and giving, but not falling apart ( though a little disintegration is not a bad thing), say 30-40 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

I have a magnet on my fridge, it says "She doesn't always follow the recipe".
It's not that I don't mean to, but as I was reading the recipe, questions popped into my mind:
Does Fergus use red, white or yellow onions?
How big are his onions?
How big is the Pumpkin?

Then of course little things like I couldn't get English style bacon so used Italian pancetta, and instead of broth, I use water with Sicilian sea salt, extra virgin olive oil for the fat that would be in the chicken or pork stock he recommends.

The soup is a luscious silky chowder which hits the spot as the sun goes down on another Friday with Fergus!
Bon Appetito!

Kate and I were emailing back and forth, and in two separate kitchens, our minds simmering with thoughts of pork and pigs.

As I was writing her I was going to make soup, this poem arrived from her.

Ladle
John Berger

Pewter pock-marked
Moon of the ladle
Rising above the mountain
Going down into the saucepan
Serving generations
Steaming
Dredging what has grown from seed
In the garden
Thickened with potato
Outliving us all
On the wooden sky
Of the kitchen wall

Serving mother
Of the steaming pewter breast
Veined by the salts
Fed to her children
Hungry as boars
With the evening earth
Engrained around their nails
And bread the brother
serving mother

Ladle pour the sky steaming
With the carrot sun
The stars of the salt
And the grease of the pig earth

Pour the sky steaming
Ladle
Pour soup for our days
Pour sleep for our nights
Pour years for our children

on this Pig Earth

2006-01-13T12:39:00.000+01:00

A peasant becomes fond of his pig and is glad to salt away its pork.

What is significant, and is so difficult for the urban stranger to understand,

is that the two statements are connected

by an and not by a but.

John Berger

Adopting pigs, killing pigs, cooking pork. Nothing is new on this pig earth as we go to ladle and spoon on this Pig Blogging Weekend in honor of San Antonio Abate's feast day on January 17th. Join Judy and I in our respective pig earth kitchens this weekend to honor the whole beast and salt away its meat.

Green Eggs and Green Ham?

2006-01-12T22:56:00.000+01:00

We are what we eat...

as I was reading Egullet I came upon this terrifying news.Green Pigs!

What is the world coming to?

Adopt a Pig

2006-01-12T00:23:00.000+01:00

My friend Licia Granello,one of Italy's best food journalists,did a fabulous article on the "MAIALATA", which has a tongue in cheek meaning to it, as well as the Celebration of the Maiale( PIG).

In her article, she points out a fabulous new way in Italy to enjoy the best. Adopt a pig!
I am so there!
Raised in open fields, and feed only natural feed all you need now is your own Norcino, the specialized butcher for pigs.
When he comes, he will prepare your animal for prosciutto, salami's and leave the chops and roasts ready to cook! The Adopt a pig program sends you the pork already to cook or cure yourself in packets.
My neighbors have pigs, so I hope to participate in this years prosciutto making!

When I googled Adopt a pig in English.. they sites were all for pet pot-belly pigs, so we won't go there!

Here in Tuscany,the grapes are picked and the wine resting, olives have been crushed and the new oil already flavoring our winter meals with it's first deep green bite.

The farmers are back in the cold fields trimming the grape vines and deserve a warm rich meal.

What better time to enjoy Salame with a glass of wine.
Not all salami's are eaten dried, some of the regional salami's are cooked!

Most of us have seen the Cotecchino or the Zampone often served for New Year's with lentils.

One of my favorites is the Capello di prete (priest's hat), if you get a chance, go to Salumeria Giusti in Modena and reserve for lunch in he secret backroom! One of Italy's oldest Salumieria's, the tiny jewel of a restaurant has only 4 tables. The Salumeria itself is like Tiffany's each item presented like a precious family jewel!
You will thank me!

Food Fight

2006-01-12T00:13:00.000+01:00

we all have our favorites.. what's your's

2006-01-10T19:50:00.000+01:00

A modest little supper.

The last two halves of a slice of jambon de pays.

Two endives sliced in half.

A tablespoon of duck fat in the bottom of a pan. Heat.

Braise the endive, cut side down. Covered.

when the endive is done, throw the ham on top to warm.

Toute simplemente! It's enough for dinner isn't it on a Tuesday night in Gascony?

Fergus' Brined Pork Belly, Roasted

2006-01-09T15:39:00.000+01:00

I am not used to long preparations, so was weary about brining.
The preparation of the brine was simple, letting it cool took time, but no effort.But all this takes planning as the pork rested in the brine for 3 days.

I have heard so much about it, seems like people brine everything now.
Also had never eaten anything brined, so had no idea of what to expect.

In Italy we also salt cure, mostly using only dry salt with herbs.
Pancetta or fresh bacon is cooked often without curing or smoking.
We often just grill the fresh pancetta or roll and oven roast seasoned.

I removed the pork from the brine and noted how it had changed.

Then scored the skin with my Stanley tool and Fergus recommended, much easier than a knife.

Placed the pork into a baking dish, resting on the onions, and went on with my morning duties.

Worth the wait!

The house filled with a sweet and savory fragrance, not unlike BBQ sauce.
I did nothing.... just checked the pork after about 2 hours, and left it in until the skin was a wonderful mahogany brown.

I could not wait.. My mouth was salivating.. I cut off a corner bit, and the crispy skin crackeled under my bite,and the rich meat melted in ny mouth!

The sweet and salty flavors got the juices in my mouth going, as as I write this,the air still filled with the roasted pork aroma.. I find myself drawn back to the kitchen for a second bite!

Brined Pork Belly, Roasted
Fergus Henderson
Nose to Tail Eating

A Brine

400 g castor sugar
600gr sea salt
12 juniper berries
12 cloves
12 black peppercorns
3 bay leaves
4 litres water

Bring all the brine ingredients together in a pot and bring it to a boil so the sugar and salt melt.

Decant onto a container and let cool.
When cold add your meat, and leave it in the birne for the number of days recommended for your recipe.

Pork belly recipe

2 kg piece of pork belly, with the skin and bones on.
2 onions, peeled and chopped
olive oil
Pinch of coarse sea salt

Brine the pork for 3 days, rinse and score the skin gently with a sharp knife ( a Stanley knife is excellent for this purpose)

Place the chopped onion on the base of a raosating tray ( their purpose is, as well as flavour,to stop the belly sticking.) Lay the belly on top. Rub the skin with a little olive oil and then the salt.
Place in a medium to hot oven for approximately 1 1/2- 2 hours; keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. If you are anxious that the skin is not crisping up enough, you can start or finish the belly under the grill.

When cooked you should have crispy skin on top and soft and giving fatty flesh. Lift off the onions and serve.

This was my first Nose to Tail recipe.. fabulous.
Will research another pork part... and next week continue!

Saints Preserve Us

2006-01-09T12:03:00.000+01:00

Fellow Bloggers.. and not...

Please join Diva and Kateas we celebrate
the feast of San Antonio Abate, Patron Saint of Pigs and Butchers,
for a Some Pig Blogging Weekend - Jan 14-15.

A Virtual Blessing of the Barnyard will take place on Jan 17th when the posts and a few prizes are announced.

From our kitchen blogs to yours,

Kate Hill and Judy Witts

Eating Happy- Kate's first pig

2006-01-07T22:59:00.000+01:00

In the grand porkiness of things, my interest is as much about the process as the product, as much about the beginnings as the end. So as I looked over the first comments coming our way from Chefpod in the San Juan Islands afloat on Puget Sound, Washington, I remembered! My first pig. 1973. Lopez Island. Named Happy.

For two Hawaii-raised 22 year-old- haole kids who had never seen a daffodil growing out of the ground or eaten an oyster, let alone keep chickens or kill pigs, ten acres of mostly cedar-wooded land, a long narrow rectangle off Cross Road, a sunny meadow—for when the sun chose to shine in the “banana belt,” and our own tangle of sweet blackberry bushes seemed like the new paradise. It was the time of Mother Earth magazine and “back to the land.” Woody and I had married wearing maile leis then moved from one island to another… to have some room to grow we said. We started a puppet theater called “The Puppet Farm” and in between commuting to Western Washington University’s Fairhaven-Hippie College by ferry boat, we traveled the Northwest performing at schools and fairs living on NEA grants and the GI Bill. It was a brave new world!

Landing on Lopez Island meant inventing rather than finding work. I worked as a waitress at the MacKay Harbor Inn, cleaned the medical clinic on the maid’s nights off, became a housekeeper for an elderly island-born couple on Spencer Spit and began a bakery at the old Richardson’s General Store at the south end of the Island—between making, booking and performing puppet shows We lived in an old Army pup tent as we hammered and nailed a small cabin out of doug fir timber we reused from an old island farmhouse. I had a cook tent under the cedar trees; my pantry was stocked with Bisquick, Cream of Wheat and homemade blackberry jam that never did set up. We had read Euell Gibbons’ books and our new neighbors proved helpful if more than a little amused at our naivety. Sometimes a bushel basket of little Norwegian yellow potatoes showed up on the back of someone’s pickup truck, other days- we were called to help pull some storm-wrecked logs off the beach. After the logs were piled up we learned how to dig for clams and outwit the horse-neck or ‘gooey-duck’ clams- one or two was enough to make a pot of chowder using those yellow finger sized potatoes and our neighbor’s fresh milk from across the road.

The time to test our mother earth mettle came when our best friends took the leap from chickens to pigs. If we helped with the chores, they said, we’d get two for a better price and we could each have a whole hog. What’s not to love about teriyaki pork chops and pineapple ono-ono spam pizzas? Remember we were Hawaii-kine children.

Happy and Shi-shi (our island slang for pee, which she did every time we approached her) grew fat and happy. Some pigs… The Summer Folk came and went as we worked for tips and winter savings. The homegrown pork, (my restaurant job was a bonus here) was going to tide us over while studying for exams; an old chest freezer was found and dragged back from Anacortes; a post and beam shed was designed to accommodate it . One day soon the big friendly half-pets would become meat. An generous old farmer, who had already held our hand through dozens of firsts, volunteered for the slaughter. I decided to work out in the garden and jump in after the kill when my knife skills were needed and the butchering started.

It was not easy. The Seattle city folks brought their kids by to witness the deed “Oh how quaint,” Mrs. Junior League proclaimed as the shotgun was aimed at Happy’s skull. I dug more carrots; weeded more cabbages. The shot rang across the Alder forests and I cringed as the proverbial squealing began.... and continued for what seemed like forever. The pig had raised her head at the last minute and was just wounded in the snout, mortally so, but still very much alive. The “men folk” jumped in the pen and had to wrestle her down as Farmer Joe produced a knife and finished the job as quickly as the thrashing pig allowed. I kept weeding, my head down in the dirt.

Traumatized by that shot and squeal, I don’t remember much else until that evening when we set around the outside fire, the carcass hanging in the shed. The so fresh pork liver went over the coals. I roasted potatoes in foil and chopped some walla walla onions to sauté in sherry. Nervous. I had never eaten pork liver before let alone fresh, really fresh, pork liver. The first taste was magic. Everything changed in a bite. It was porklusciously delicious.

Any reluctance I had was now replaced with eager anticipation to tomorrow’s butchering chore. I would take the knife and using a pamphlet book from the Farm Administration with a pen and ink carcass diagram muddle my way through cutting up a whole pig. I would cut chops and roasts and ribs for two days. Somehow it got hacksawed up, wrapped in freezer paper and stored in the big rusty chest along side a whole salmon and a ling cod traded by a fisherman for a dozen of my famous cinnamon rolls. Life was good.

We finished the cabin by the middle of winter, moved in with a wood stove for heat and eat, and ate Happy chops and Shi-Shi teriyaki burgers until the next summer came around. It was the first and last pig of the Lopez Island days. Soon we would leave for bright lights, city lights and move the theatre studio to Seattle leaving our compost pile untended.

Looking from this far Gascon place, a dozen pigs or more down the road, I now know that I learned then what would become foundation for another life and another career in another country. Keep close to the source; eat what's at hand; pay attention. I still depend on my experienced French neighbors to teach me the ropes; I still am extraordinarily curious of how it all works, from the beginning. My work/travel schedule still discourages me from raising my own four-legged larder, but I buy in at the Ferme Bellevue when there is an extra pig or too many chickens. I help with scraping the bristles off, filling the casing with fresh blood for boudin, boning the hocks and making the paté. Rows of saucissons and coppa hang from rafters with little tags that say “Kate de Camont.” A ham is weighted under the salt, curing until mid summer when I will share it with students and friends when they come to 'Camp France.’ Jars are filled with roti de porc and liver & potato pâté that I store in “The Piggery”- the laundry room/pantry outbuilding here at the French Kitchen at Camont, Ste.Colombe-en-Bruilhois, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine, France--some 8800 nautical miles away, island to bistro-galley. What a Long and twisted Village it has become.

thanks to the www.LopezIslandPharmacy.com for the memories!

Friday's with Fergus

2006-01-06T17:44:00.000+01:00

In honor of our guru, Fergus, I began my cooking Nose to Tail with a fresh cut of bone in bacon, pork belly.

Oven Roasted Pork Belly

The recipe I chose starts with making a brine, letting it cool, and then marinating the pork for 3 days before oven roasting it. (I was missing Juniper Berries, market was closed today so will add tomorrow.)

So I am starting this today, Friday,but will post before our Some Pig Blog contest next weekend to give you inspiration.

I hope that we can follow up every Friday with a new recipe.

Send me yours and we will post a link, creating a wonderful resource for pork lover's everywhere.

Today is a holiday, so was a good day to cook.
I made the brine, and put the pork belly in to marinade.
While I was at it, I decided to do a traditional Roasted Pork Shanks, one of the first pork recipes I tried in Bologna, where Pork is KING!

An inforgettable meal!

Easy to prep, simply season the shanks with some salt, pepper, and garlic cloves, sage and rosemary. drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil.
Seal in foil or parchment and slow roast at 350 for about 2 hours, until the meat is colored and pulls away from the bone.

Buon Appetito!

That's dinner!

Gettin ready to pig out!

2006-01-06T00:21:00.000+01:00

Simone Mannetti, the same family as Massimo, these guys have a thing for Pork!

Today I was in the Central Market in San Lorenzo, Florence and although there is much excitement and celebrations for the return of the Bistecca alla Fiorentina, I managed to buy some great pork for my homework!

We will be having a virtual Friday with Fergus.

Living here in Italy, I have easy access to the whole hog, from tiny pigs to wild boars.

I was inspired to cook my way through Fergus' Nose to Tail cookbook and decided this would be a great access space fo all of us to share.

With Kate We will be posting our Some Pig blogging weekend event to honor Saint Anthony the Abbot, San Antonio Abate, patron saint of farm animals and Norcini, pork butchers.

I found bone in fresh bacon, which Fergus our Guru, recommends for his recipe.
I will brine it then oven roast.

I also found some Pork Shanks? which I will roast with rosemary and olive oil.

While all these things are taking their slow time... I couldn't resist the beef cheeks to make peposa, the Florentine beef and pepper stew,braised in red wine!

Can you tell I am getting ready to abandon my Tuscan hubby and need to leave a full fridge?

Makin Bacon

2006-01-04T17:53:00.000+01:00

Grateful palate
has a Bacon Brittle that I am wild to try!

love syrup on my sausage, so....

One of our favorite sites for bacon is IHEARTBACON

We will be adding on to our favorite experts for more information on all that celebrates our friend the Pig!

Some Pig

2006-01-02T14:29:00.000+01:00

Massimo Manetti, Mercato Central Firenze

In March, Kate, Fergus and I are presenting at IACP conference in Seattle on the fabulous food provided to us by the farmer's friend the Pig, Saint's Preserve
Us, we thought we would share some of our information here on this blog.

Where as the cow is often raised and sold to support the family, the pig provides a year of food, being preserved for consumption during the year. The winter is the season for many of the aging processes to begin for farm families who rely on the cold winter and not refrigerators.

This blog will document some of our favorite, butchers, farmers and recipes that honor the Prince of Winter.. the pig.

Join us as we celebrate the seasons of the Pig, and age old techniques, artisans and butchers carrying on the traditions at the table.