Wise Sons Deli in San Francisco's Mission District doesn't let a single ounce of their wood-smoked pastrami go unconsumed. It's as if they were inspired by their grandmothers' kitchen habits, which sounds like a pretty dang authentic deli to us. How authentic, you ask? The phone number listed on their website comes with the caveat: "You…
Read More
Elias Cairo, salumist and owner of Portland's award-winning Olympia Provisions, does not only make salumi and own a restaurant and meat plant. You don't just decide one day to become the kind of charcutier he is — the skill and mind-set are cultivated over a lifetime. Butchering whole animals and making sausage with his father, watching…
Read More
In Charcuterie Board Elements, we deconstruct the best cured meat spreads in the world and zero in on one incredible component. We hit Jockey Hollow Bar & Kitchen in Morristown, New Jersey, to see how executive chef Kevin Sippel is turning whole local pigs (fed on the same fare as the diners) into giant cured, stuffed porchettas.When was…
Read More
Francis Derby: executive chef, sausage scholar, pâté deity and all-around MVPP (Most Valuable Pork Person). The longtime NYC restaurant vet (and no-contest winner of 2015's Cochon 555) helms the protein dream team at the Cannibal Beer & Butcher, a beer lover's dream of a gastropub in New York's Flatiron District with an outpost in Hell's Kitchen. Take a…
Read More
In Charcuterie Board Elements, we deconstruct the best cured meat spreads in the world and zero in on one incredible component. We hit the Nickel at Denver's renowned Hotel Teatro, where Colorado's bounty of ultra-fresh, free-range meat is grilled, braised and yes, cured, by executive chef-restaurateur Chris Thompson. After pigs forage in the summertime, lardo is the…
Read More
Everyone knows about pork bacon. It's simply called bacon. But what about bacon made from other meats? Namely, lamb bacon, created from the belly of the sheep. It's smoked, cured and sizzled up into a fatty, meaty glory on par with its swine counterpart. "Lamb belly has more depth of flavor," says Ilan Hall of…
Read More
So you're in Los Angeles and craving charcuterie, eh? Well, you lucked out this time. In a health-conscious, Mexican and Korean cuisine-driven city that's not exactly known for restaurants specializing in the age-old European practice of preserving fatty meats and livers, chef Kris Morningstar is proudly sourcing pig blood. Foie gras, too — the ban's over!…
Read More
Sure, you could fry up bacon and eggs like you do all the time. But what will you have learned by the time you're done, other than bacon and eggs are, as you suspected, delicious and satisfying? We've gathered 15 exciting ways to have your pig candy and eat it too. Ever kneaded bacon fat…
Read More
Hey, it's the Fung Bros., who brought you such comedic stylings as "Best Asian Rap Lyrics," and culinary masterpieces like "Top 5 Fried Rices." With damn-near half a million subscribers, you're going to want to see what they're up to. This week, they're at the pride of Alhambra, for the world-famous pastrami at The Hat.…
Read More
Hello, I'm Jess, and I'll drop everything to report on great charcuterie. When offered a seat at one of the most magical tables in New York one night last week, I canceled a date, left work early and smushed myself into the last few "available" inches of a Brooklyn-bound L train for the Great Artisanal…
Read More
A little cured ham never hurt anyone, are we right? And here’s the thing: The addition of a few slices of this easily sourced Italian pork candy to a meal can turn a solid spread into a restaurant-quality affair. With dry-cured prosciutto, a little goes a long way. Or a lot goes a very long…
Read More
We pay our respects to the fine, meaty work of great charcutiers pretty regularly, whether it's going to cure-houses, hunting down the best terrines and finding the gear we need to do it all ourselves. Check out 14 stories that will make you proud to be a carnivore. Hang your hams high, friends, and if…
Read More
Our new Butchery and Charcuterie feature is so Instagram-friendly that it's practically cheating. The last time we saw food this photogenic... was probably Meatopia, backing up the point that meat is beautiful, meat is good. Let us photograph it in all its fat-studded, fermented and thinly sliced glory, and let us not forget the cornichons.…
Read More
I recently fell in love with meat-based salad dressings. They make your salad so much meatier. Choose your favorite cured meat, be it bacon, pancetta or some other means of charcuterie, but I like using soppressata because it's nice and fatty, and that fat renders out slightly, enhancing the dressing you're whisking it into. Paired…
Read More
Few things can't be improved with a little cured meat, not limited to salad dressing. But we're tackling main courses...and two types of bread with cured pig baked right in. There's French and Italian and Chinese charcuterie, plus a cured lamb belly sandwich that's 100% worth the slightly advanced undertaking. Hey, make a lamb belly…
Read More
I've been seriously bad about stocking my fridge lately. I'm never home, and when I am all I want is a something egg and cheese. On the off-night I am home, by the time I flop down and yell "okay, everyone just shut up!" to nobody but the cat, I've also realized the population in…
Read More
Family Italian, a new cookbook release from famed Italian chef (and Jamie Oliver mentor) Gennaro Contaldo, is packed with the recipes we want to cook. From haute cuisine to rustic peasant food — we love the whole spectrum — Family Italian is one of those books that puts you in the mood for a big,…
Read More
Once in a while, you eat something that reminds you, beyond a shadow of doubt, that the true best food in the world comes straight from nature. And that doesn't mean it has to be a vegetable. This example happens to come from a pig. If you've been to Spain and have seen a billboard…
Read More
A little cured ham never hurt a meat-lover, are we right? The addition of a few slices of this Italian pork candy (think fruit roll-ups) to a meal can turn a decently solid spread into a restaurant-quality affair. Break out the prosciutto for dinner tonight and add a classy touch to the whole meal —…
Read More
If you're a prosciutto snob or smuggle Ibèrico in your checked bag, domestic country ham is the next haute thing to add to the charcuterie board. Sam Edwards is a 3rd-generation Virginia country ham curemaster based in Surry, VA, a region known for spectacular cured pig. And for the record, country ham refers to ham…
Read More
Enjoy this thoughtfully curated blend of stories and recipes that will surely incite a fiery craving for everyone's favorite breakfast meat. Yes, we polled the world and it was close, but bacon pulled ahead of sausage at the very end in a shocking turn of events. Actually, it's not that shocking. Enjoy our 10 favorite…
Read More
When it comes to Florida cuisine, the conversation starts with Norman Van Aken. The chef and author was among the first to realize the tropical food goldmine of the region, and his restaurants and cookbooks have had a huge influence. Now the chef/owner of Norman's at the Ritz-Carlton, Grande Lakes, Orlando and Director of Restaurants…
Read More
I wrote a while back about England's cheese and pickle sandwich, a lunch so satisfying in its simplicity that I killed my very first jar of Branston pickle in under three days. I could have exercised some control, or at least rationed it better. But I did not. I have immense respect for the uncomplicated…
Read More
That Hunger Games thing is happening to me again. There's nothing I can do — the ads are everywhere, it's all over my Google reader and everyone and their moms (literally) are reading it on the subway. I realize it's rare that even Katniss tears raw meat off a carcass with her teeth, but just…
Read More
I'd like to come clean right off the bat and admit some things I've wrapped in prosciutto. These were different days, wild days. Once, I covered a hard-boiled egg with prosciutto, breaded and deep-fried it in attempt to make an Italian Scotch egg. It promptly exploded — prosciutto's like shrink wrap. Another time I wrapped…
Read More