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Cured Meats
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Taste Test: Hormel Pepperoni Minis
Both PartySugar and I are fiends for cured meats as well as suckers for anything mini — so you can imagine our reactions when we opened up a parcel that was filled with pocket-sized packs of Hormel Pepperoni Minis! I stepped out to run an errand, but Party confessed she couldn't wait for me to get back to break into them. Were they as delicious as they were tempting?
Definition: Speck
An Italian cured, smoked meat native to the Alto Adige, a region that straddles Northern Italy and Southern Austria. To make speck, a boned pork leg is cured in salt, and spices like laurel and juniper, then intermittently slow-smoked, using pine or juniper wood for several months.
Deep red in color with heavily marbled traces of fat, speck is served thinly sliced as an appetizer, or used in to flavor cooked dishes.
Burning Question: Are Salumi & Charcuterie the Same Thing?
With cured meats making a comeback, it's common to see charcuterie and salumi platters on restaurant menus across the country. But are charcuterie and salumi the same thing? What about salumi and salami?
Must-Read: Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It
Given that some say we're in the middle of a food revolution, and local, sustainable, home-grown produce is popping up everywhere, it's only logical that an uptick in home preserving will happen, too. Enter Karen Solomon's Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It, a new book that's focused on making your own artisanal food products, either to keep or to give as gifts. The tome isn't simply limited to fruit jellies and quick pickles — it also includes instructions on making everything from flatbread to watermelon Popsicles to chai tea.
Taste Test: Nduja, Boccalone's Spreadable Salame
I've long been a fan of local talent Chris Cosentino and his offal-inspired Italian restaurant, Incanto. So when news, well, spread last month that Cosentino's salumeria Boccalone Artisan Meats was debuting the first spreadable salame — Nduja, as it's called — to be produced in the States, I knew I had to get my hands on some right away. Did the salumi live up to all its wonderment?
'Wich of the Week: Cap'n Blue Cheese Chicken Sandwich
With double-meat sandwiches, it is important to tread carefully. So for this indulgent combination of marinated chicken and cured meat, I gathered exceptionally gourmet ingredients: Point Reyes blue cheese, capocolla (aka coppa) from Chris Cosentino's Boccalone deli, and organic chicken thighs. Since I was piling meat upon meat with creamy cheese, I made extra-small sandwiches using soft but firm dinner rolls.
Would You Eat This Charcuterie Plate?
One of the hottest new restaurants in town is becoming well known for its charcuterie plate. The last time I was there I ended up with the plate in the photo. I loved every bit of it, but my friend was a bit squeamish about the white proscuitto on the left.
Would You Pay $2100 For A Ham?
Yep, you read that title correctly. I didn't forget a decimal point, that does indeed read twenty-one hundred dollars. Or, if you prefer, $160 per pound.
In Season: Figs
Fig season is like pre-Fall in the fashion world, a tasty little teaser that helps bridge the gap between Summer and Autumn. Perhaps it's partly because the season is so fleeting that this fruit tastes so sweet, but when figs are just right, they taste downright sinful. When people tell me they don't like figs, I say, they just haven't had a good one yet.
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