Salt & Time

Beer + sausage = awesome

2011-02-23T00:21:00.003-06:00

I took a trip back to Oakland a few months back, and while I was there I swung by the Fatted Calf's new store in San Francisco. First of all, what an awesome shop. If you get the chance, go. Second, they have started making really great beer links, using their favorite craft beers. On my flight back to Austin, I thought about all the great breweries starting up in Texas and decided I had to import this idea.

So, without further ado, I'm proud to announce our Craft Beer Link of the Month. Each month, we will be making a sausage and a mustard featuring beer from the best breweries in Texas. The first six breweries we will be collaborating with are Jester King, Real Ale, Live Oak, Thirsty Planet, Southern Star, and Hops & Grain. On Saturday March 5th, we're taking our grill and heading to Thirsty Planet to kick things off. Come on out and get a Buckethead IPA Link with Thirsty Goat Mustard and enjoy some beer. We'll also be featuring the Buckethead Link all month at the HOPE Farmers Market.

Oh man, it's been a while...

2011-01-26T21:45:00.003-06:00

This is the part of the post where I apologize for taking so long off from writing and explain that things are really hectic around here. Broken record, I know, I know.

So here's a quick update on what we've been up to.

In November, the Austin City Council took action to allow cooking at Farmers Markets. Since then, we've been grilling a variety of our sausages at the HOPE Farmers Market on Sundays. Austin Chronicle food writer Mick Vann stopped by one weekend and had one of our Mortadella Hot Dogs. He said it was the best Hot Dog he'd ever had. No kidding! If you haven't been out to HOPE yet, you're missing a hell of a good time. We're grilling the hot dogs, currywurst and more every week, there are complimentary cocktails, I repeat COMPLIMENTARY COCKTAILS, from Austin Personal Bartenders and a bunch of awesome farmers and vendors.

Photo by John Anderson. Courtesy of the Austin Chronicle.

In other news, that bearded fellow in the picture is Bryan Butler. Bryan has been Austin's neighborhood butcher for the last decade, first at Fresh Plus Grocery and for the last six years at Wheatsville Coop. Late last year he left Wheatsville and joined Salt & Time. I can't tell you how excited I am that Bryan is now part of Salt & Time. Needless to say, Bryan brings with him a ton of experience and shares the same passion that inspired me to start Salt & Time. Please join me in welcoming Bryan.

I have some other things to tell you about, but I think I should save them for another post... Stay tuned.

Happy Birthday Buddy Holly!

2010-09-07T23:29:00.000-05:00

New website, etc...

2010-09-06T19:03:00.002-05:00

Its been a busy and exciting couple of weeks here at Salt & Time. We introduced a bunch of new products, including our 512 Pecan Porter brined Bacon, our Wild Pig Prosciutto and our smoked Pimento Chile Sauce. The Prosciutto was here and gone before we could blink, and won't be back for a few months, but the bacon and chile sauce will be regular features from here on out.

We've also received some fantastic press coverage in Edible Austin and the Austin Chronicle.

Last but not least, we've finally gotten a proper website up! It was designed by Miss Natalie and we really like it. We will be updating it with what we're bringing to the market each week, so check it regularly, and hit refresh to make sure you see the most up to date list of products.

Now that this blog no longer has to serve as the de facto website for Salt & Time, it will be going on a bit of a hiatus and will return at some point as an outlet for me to share my thoughts on... well just about anything that I feel like, I guess.

Until we meet again, Ben

With all due respect to Eddie Cochran, we have the cure for the summertime blues

2010-07-29T21:49:00.004-05:00

August is a tough month to grow vegetables in Texas. It’s hot and dry and generally inhospitable for veggies and the people who tend them. With barren gardens and slim pickings at the farmers markets, this can be a problem for locavores. Hopefully, you’ve been pickling, jamming and otherwise preserving the bounty from what has been a great spring and summer of fruits and veggies. If, however, your cupboard is bare, Salt & Time has you covered. We’re sitting on a big stockpile of pickles and jam. We will continue to have our Pickled Fennel, Pickled Beets and Fig & Balsamic Jam and we will be rolling out new pickles to help beat the heat every Sunday in August at the HOPE Farmers Market.

Starting on Aug 1^st, we will have Bread & Butter Pickles made with Johnson Backyard Garden Organic Cucumbers & Hinkelhatz Peppers and Springdale Farm Garlic and Onions. Also in the pickle hopper are Dill Spears, Okra, Jalapeno Peppers and more. We have several new meat products this month as well, starting with Mangalitsa Pork Rilletes. Mangalitsa is an incredibly flavorful heritage breed of pig that is being raised in Texas by Revival Meats. One of the great things about getting outside of the industrial food box is that there is an amazing world of flavor out there to experience. Most people would probably be surprised to realize that all pork doesn’t taste the same. Just like heirloom vegetable varieties, heritage breeds have unique flavors and textures that can’t be found wrapped in plastic at the supermarket. We are very excited to work with Revival Meats and other farmers that raise heritage breeds, and rest assured, these rilletes are just the beginning!

Coming later in August, we will be introducing our first fresh bacon, brined in 512 Brewery’s Pecan Porter and smoked over Pecan wood and our first Prosciutto, made from Countryside Farms wild pig! We’ll keep you updated on the Bacon and Prosciuttos progress as we get closer to their arrival. Stay tuned!

Market Days

2010-07-17T22:57:00.003-05:00

Come see us tomorrow (Sunday) at the HOPE Farmers Market from 10-2. We'll have Sopressata, Genoa, Chorizo, Lonzino, Brianza, Tuscano and Peperoni Salumi as well as Hot Dogs, Fig & Balsamic Jam, Pickled Watermelon Radishes, Pickled Fennel, Pickled Beets and Pickled Squash. We're looking forward to being regular participants in the HOPE Market and have some new products on the way in the coming weeks! If you haven't been to HOPE yet, it's a very cool market with some great vendors. Come check it out!

HOPE Farmer's Market, this Sunday!

2010-06-30T22:56:00.004-05:00

Here's a rundown of what we'll have available this Sunday at the HOPE Farmers Market (10am-1pm). You can pre-order items by emailing orders@saltandtime.com. Please provide a phone number we can reach you at in your email. See you on Sunday!

4th of July Special!

Hot Dogs – aka Frankfurters aka Weiners aka YUM! Naturally Dolce Farms 100% grassfed beef and Richardson Farms pork $12/pound

Salumi (all Salumi made with Richardson Farms pork unless otherwise noted)

Genoa – red wine, pepper, garlic. $28/pound

Sopressata – white wine, chile, garlic. $28/pound

Chorizo – smoked pimenton, chili. $30/pound

Lomo - whole cured pork loin with chile and cumin $32/pound

Lonzino – whole cured pork loin with fennel, juniper and nutmeg $32/pound

Pancetta – whole cured pork belly with pepper & juniper $20/pound

Snack Sticks $3.50 Each

Genoa – red wine, pepper, garlic

Tuscano – fennel and pepper

Peperone – Naturally Dolce Farms Red Wattle pork with paprika and allspice

Pickles, relishes, etc (8 oz containers)

Pickled Fennel – Fruitfull Hill Farm fennel with thyme and lemon peel $7

Pickled Beets – Fruitfull Hill Farms beets, onions $6

Sweet Pickled Green Tomatoes – Springdale Farm Green tomatoes in a sweet and tangy brine $6

Kenny’s Pickled Squash – Finca Pura Vida squash, Chef Kenny Gray’s secret recipe $7

Pickled Watermelon Radishes – Fruitfull Hill Farm watermelon radishes, Tecolote Farm French sorrel $6

Grilled Eggplant in Olive Oil – Grilled Finca Pura Vida eggplant with chili peppers $6

Peperonata – Johnson’s Backyard peppers, capers, Texas Olive Ranch olive oil $7

Poached Peaches in Rose Syrup – Lightsey Orchards peaches $6

Grilled Peaches in Basil and Mint Syrup – Lightsey Orchard peaches $6

Fig & Balsamic Jam – home grown figs, balsamic vinegar, peppercorn $7

Shopping list

2010-06-23T22:19:00.003-05:00

Kenny and I finished up the shopping for Friday's dinner this afternoon at the Triangle Farmer's market. I'm proud to say that we will be featuring nine different Central Texas farms on our menu! And now that we have all of our ingredients, here is the final menu:

Shared Appetizer Plate:

Grilled Finca Pura Vida Eggplant with Pure Luck Aged Feta Cheese
Slow Cooked Springdale Farm Zucchini Crostini
Roasted Peppers with Olive Oil
(Johnson’s Backyard, Finca Pura Vida, Urban Roots)
Boggy Creek Rocket
Springdale Farm Heirloom Tomato Salad with Boggy Creek Basil
Salt & Time dry cured Chorizo and Lonzino (Richardson Farms pork)

Main Course:

Whole Roasted Red Wattle Pig from Naturally Dolce Farms
Dressed Urban Roots Rainbow Chard
Kenny’s Chili Oil
Pickled Finca Pura Vida Mixed Squash

Dessert:

Lemon Drizzle Cake with Lightsey Orchards Peaches and Rose Syrup Compote and cream

There are still a few more hours to get advance tickets, and there will be a limited number of tickets available at the door! See you there.

Big News!

2010-06-10T22:03:00.003-05:00

I am very happy to announce that Salt & Time will be debuting at the HOPE Farmers Market on Sunday, July 4th. Its been a long time coming, and, frankly we can't wait! We will be selling all of our varieties of salumi, our pickled fennel and, in honor of the holiday, Hot Dogs (made from Richardson Farms Pork and 100% Grassfed Beef from Naturally Dolce Farms). We have a few other tricks up our sleeve as well, so make sure you come by and see us.

We are also excited to be returning to the Victory Grill for another Nourishing the Soul event on Friday, June 25th. The last event was a bunch of fun, and thanks in large part to help from my friend Chef Kenny Gray, a success. (Also instrumental in making it a success were my wife and my Dad and Erin from Wildflour Bakery and her mom. Families rule.) Kenny and I are working on the menu and will be announcing it soon. Hope to see you there.

Victory Grill Dessert update

2010-05-23T15:22:00.003-05:00

I specialize in the salty, so for our dinner this Friday at the Victory Grill I've enlisted my friend Erin from Wildflour Bakery to help with the sweet. Erin just emailed me the lowdown on the dessert and, damn, it sounds good. If you haven't already bought your ticket for Friday, this should get you off your rump.

Dessert will be:

Orange Saffron Pound Cake with Honey Zabaglione and Seasonal Fruit. YUM!

Join us at the Victory Grill.

2010-05-19T00:14:00.004-05:00

We are proud to announce that we will be hosting a Farm to Table dinner in conjunction with the historic Victory Grill. Nourishing the Soul, to be held on Friday May 28th, will feature Richardson Farms Pork, Thunder Heart Bison and produce from Johnson's Back Yard, Animal Farm, Fruitful Hill Farms and others. The meal will be accompanied by a wine pairing from East End Wines. Following dinner, Soul Kitchen will perform. Tickets are $30 for an individual, $100 for a table for four and $175 for a table for eight.

Menu

First Course:
Frito Misto - battered and fried seasonal vegetables
Fresh Chicharrones - Richardson Farms Pork Skins fried and seasoned

Second Course:
Pickle Plate - Animal Farm Carrots, Fruitful Hill Beets, Hillside Farms Brussel Sprouts and more

Main Course:
Pancetta Wrapped Mortadella Link - Salt & Time's mortadella made from Richardson Farms Pork and Thunder Heart Bison in sausage form, wrapped in our pancetta, served on a Barrie Cullinan Baked Goods roll and accompanied by Tuscan Baked Beans
*Vegetarian Entrée available upon request

Dessert:
Seasonal Fruit Tart

Seating is limited and tickets are on sale now at www.historicvictorygrill.org. See you there!

Update

2010-04-22T00:03:00.006-05:00

So in case you were wondering, last Thursday's event for the Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival was rained out. It was a bummer for all involved. The organizers, vendors and volunteers all wanted the show to go on, but the weather just wasn't cooperating. Tomorrow night is the Umlauf Garden Party and, knock on wood, the weather is looking wonderful.

Let me take this opportunity to encourage those of you who come directly to the blog to take a look at the new Salt & Time website. It's still a work in progress, but it has a couple of important things on it. First is the lovely Salt & Time logo designed by the equally lovely Miss Natalie. I'm very lucky to have an in house (literally) designer. Second, it says "now available." That's right Salt & Time Salumi is now available to the greater Austin area. I'm still working on getting set up to sell at Farmers Markets, but in the mean time I am working on figuring out ways to make our products available to you. Currently, the wonderful Hotel St. Cecilia is carrying a variety of our Salume as part of their Charcuterie plate, and I'm hoping to have a few other outlets within the next few weeks. I am also trying to figure out the logistics of setting up a semi regular (weekly? monthly?) delivery day into Austin. Finally, I am working on setting up a couple of more events featuring our products. If you just absolutely can't wait to get your hands on some kick ass local salumi, email me and I'll try to work something out.

Celebrating Spring

2010-04-06T11:13:00.004-05:00

I love spring in the Hill Country. The hills are a hundred shades of green, the creeks are full and the wildflowers are blooming. I'm very excited that Salt & Time will be participating in two great events that are as much a part of the season as the weather and the landscape: the Texas Hill Country Wine & Food Festival and the Umlauf Garden Party. Here are the details:

Texas25 Thursday April 15, 7:00-9:00 PM, Whole Foods Rooftop Plaza. "featuring 25+ reasons we love Texas—all related to food and drink... Taste the beloved bites and bevs of local restaurants and artisan producers... Music from a local rockin' DJ will kick up the party in honor of Texas Wine and Food’s 25th anniversary."

Umlauf Garden Party Thursday April 22, 6:30-9:30 PM, Umlauf Sculpture Garden "The Garden Party celebrates the art of sculpture and the work of 20th century American sculptor, Charles Umlauf. Proceeds from the party are dedicated to the preservation of the Umlauf Sculpture Garden & Museum and help underwrite the museum's award-winning education programs."

Both these events feature tons of great food and beverages, and should be tons of fun. I hope to see you there!

p.s. I'm a few days late, but happy birthday Jimmy.

Come taste our salume!

2010-03-09T20:31:00.004-06:00

I'm a couple of weeks late in posting this, but thanks to Addie Broyles of the Austin American-Statesman and Relish Austin for including us in her blog post on the burgeoning Charcuterie scene in town. I'm the new kid on the block and I'm excited about being part of such an exciting time in Austin.

In other news, the weather today was awesome! Either Spring is here, or the hordes about to descend for SXSW are very lucky. And just in case there isn't enough to chose from at SXSW, we're throwing our hat into the ring. We will be sampling our salumi at the Cause Party for Haiti at Space on Sixth on Monday the 15th. You can sign up here. Salume will be available from 7 to 8pm and there will be beverages as well as food from Chef Clive Berkman. Hope to see you there!

Back to my old stomping grounds...

2010-02-23T20:00:00.002-06:00

I'm heading out to Oakland for a quick visit. I can't wait to see my friends, and I'm looking forward to stopping by Adesso and Boccalone for some excellent cured meats. I also plan on drinking lots of coffee. Blue Bottle, Four Barrel, Dynamo, and of course the old standby Peet's. I will probably have a caffiene buzz that will last for a couple of weeks, which is good, because March is going to be a big month. Keep an eye on the site for a bunch of announcements including new farmers that we'll be working with, events were you can taste our products, and most importantly where you can buy our products!

p.s. I already spilled the beans about one of our new suppliers on the twitter feed over there -->

Buddy & Waylon

2010-02-13T23:16:00.002-06:00

Before Willie & Waylon, there was Buddy & Waylon. Another great post from the Selvedge Yard.

Two weeks and counting

2010-02-05T22:16:00.005-06:00

Two weeks into production and things are going well. It's been cold and wet, which has made humidity control a little challenging, but we figured it out and are plugging along. Here are some photos of salume in progress.

Genoa on the left, Lonzino on the right.

Pancetta

And, for good measure, some Copa di Testa.

Musical Interlude

2010-01-31T21:39:00.001-06:00

Whiskey River

Crazy George | MySpace Video

Salume is in bloom...

2010-01-31T16:56:00.006-06:00

Another cold snap here in central Texas, but our first batch of salume is undeterred. I was very happy to walk into the shop on Saturday and see this lovely mold bloom. The whole shop was filled with a wonderful porky mustiness, the aroma of sausage slowly fermenting. These guys are now off to the drying room for a couple of months.

We have pork!

2010-01-23T19:44:00.003-06:00

I picked up a half pig from Richardson Farms this morning, and now its in much smaller pieces.

The Home Stretch...

2010-01-15T20:45:00.004-06:00

We're in the home stretch here at Salt & Time. Last week, my dad and I drove down to Houston to pick up a bunch of supplies at Allied Kenco. Whether you're a home sausage maker or producing commercially, Allied Kenco can hook you up with everything you need. Cody and the staff there are super friendly and helpful and a pleasure to work with. They do mail order, but since I was ordering a couple hundred pounds of curing salts and casings, I figured I'd save on shipping costs and pick them up. Plus, I've never been to Houston, and I've been hearing great things about Feast. Feast lived up to the hype with its menu. We were still full from lunch, and we needed to get back on the road, so we had a light dinner. The highlight for me was definitely chicken hearts on toast. I have to admit, that I'm not much for chicken liver, but chicken hearts are yummy. I did have flashbacks to my days at Marin Sun Farms when I would sort through chicken offal to separate out the hearts from the livers for the farmers market.

With the pantry now full of supplies, we finished up the last major work on the shop this week, and are ready to start production. Next week, I'm picking up my first batch of pork from Richardson Farms and we will be off and running. I'll have some pictures up of the first batch, but in the mean time, here are some photos of the shop.

And now for something completely different.

2010-01-09T18:17:00.003-06:00

If you're bored, check out one of my favorite non-food blogs The Selvedge Yard's gallery of Tom Waits photos.

Happy New Year

2010-01-02T23:21:00.001-06:00

Update: I added a couple of photos of the porchetta before it went on the fire.

I'm very excited about 2010 and all the opportunities and possibilities it holds. Things are coming along quite well here at Salt & Time. I'm just about done with my shop (I will post some pictures soon), and if everything goes according to plan, my first batch of salume will go in the drying room sometime next week.

In the mean time, I took the shop for a test drive and made some sausage and a porchetta for Christmas dinner. The sausage was a (slightly) Spicy Italian with fennel seeds. My brother in law smoked them with great care and they came out tasting great. The porchetta was quite tasty, but also a bit of an adventure. Weighing in at about 30 lbs, it quickly overpowered the electric motor on the spit. Not spinning, and sitting a little too close to the fire, the outside of the porchetta quickly went from crispy to blackened at the twine I had tied it with began to catch on fire and burst. A little quick thinking and a handful of metal skewers and we managed to avoid disaster. The skin was too charred to eat, but the meat inside was well protected and came out wonderfully moist and flavorful.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

I'm really enjoying incorporating the influence of my new home with the Italian traditions that first inspired me, and nothing says Texas like applying a healthy dose of fire and smoke to meat. I'm looking forward to continuing to experiment with Texan food traditions in the coming year.

So much fun...

2009-12-12T17:50:00.001-06:00

I had a great time at the Spartan and Bows + Arrows party! Thanks to all my new friends and fans of salty foods. I can't wait until next time!

We're gearing up for the holidays at home, and its a mad house of decorating, pickling, cooking and listening to Christmas music. Our favorites are the soundtrack to A Charlie Brown Christmas, and the Christmas albums by Low, John Fahey and Bob Dylan. Have a happy holidays, and I'll check back in in the new year with lots of exciting updates.

Salt & Time, out on the town

2009-12-02T22:37:00.000-06:00

If you're in Austin and looking for something to do on the evening of Thursday December 10, consider stopping by two of Austin's finest retail establishments Spartan and Bows & Arrows. This is the perfect chance to finish up your holiday shopping, pick a little something up for yourself, grab a drink and snack on some tasty treats made by yours truly. Unfortunately, this will be a vegetarian affair, but I hope to have some salume ready for the next party they throw!

Come eat this pickled fennel!

Spartan
Bows & Arrows
215 S. Lamar
6:00 ish

What the hell is going on around here?

2009-11-16T22:42:00.000-06:00

Seriously, how do I expect anyone to take my blog seriously if I can't get my act together to at least post every once in a while? And I know you don't want to hear any excuses. Plenty of people who are busier than me still manage to post on there blog. I mean, didn't you see Julie & Julia? She was crazy busy, and she still managed to cook all those recipes AND post about it. It's true, it's all true.

Nonetheless, for those of you who have persevered, and have continued to come back despite the obvious lack of update, I have some news for you: I'm going pro. I had the great opportunity to learn from the talented folks at Marin Sun Farms, the Fatted Calf and Avedano's, and while I never got around to blogging about it, it changed my life. For the last couple of months, I've been investigating all of the legal and logistical issues around producing and selling cured meat products in Texas, not to mention getting to know some of the great farmers and ranchers in the area, and now I'm ready to start making salume. As you know, making salume takes time (and salt, of course) so it will be a while before I have much to sell, but if all goes according to plan, the people of Texas should be able to buy Salt & Time Salume early next year.

I'll keep you updated, I swear.

p.s. I had an absolutely amazing meal at Olivia. Lamb's Tongue Fricasee, Rabbit Confit with Gnocchi and Natalie had the Salmon Crepe. All wonderful, and had a great chat with Chef and Owner James. Should have Twittered it, but I'm worse at Twittering than I am at blogging.

Dario!

2009-09-30T13:06:00.001-05:00

Michael Ruhlman recently blogged about distinguishing between foodies and cooks. (On a side note, this post was part of a pretty unique media dialog. Michael Pollan wrote an article for the Times Magazine, inspired by the movie Julie & Julia, which is of course based on a food blog and the life of Julia Child, as documented in the public and private writings of Mrs. & Mr. Child. This article prompted Ruhlman to respond on his blog concluding, among other things, that food bloggers are continuing Julia Child's legacy. This post generated tons of responses on his blog as well as his Facebook and Twitter pages, which ultimately resulted in Ruhlman writing a follow up post responding to many of those comments. Media democratization at work!) Michael's basic point, is that there is an important distinction between foodies and cooks. Food is a lifestyle for foodies, but cooking isn't necessarily part of it. Cooks are, quite simply, people who cook food, and presumably, enjoy doing it. The two are not mutually exclusive, certainly many foodies are also cooks, but many are not.

Personally, I can trace my transformation from foodie to cook, and further to butcher, back to a specific moment. Bill Buford's wonderful book Heat, itself a memoir of the author going through this transition, was a huge inspiration to me, and surely to many, many others. Specifically, Buford's description of Dario Cecchini, the master butcher was a revelation. Buford is a great writer, Dario is a brilliant butcher with a flare for the theatrical, and the resulting combination is pure magic. Dario is a bombastic, larger than life kinda guy. Or at least that's how he comes across in the book, and now Bay Area foodies, cooks and butchers alike will have the opportunity to check him out in person! Meatpaper and Marin Organic are teaming up to brig Dario to Fort Mason for a meat cutting demonstration. Tickets are pricey, but likely well worth it.

Pickled Okra, Batch #1

2009-09-18T11:41:00.000-05:00

On my first trip to the Austin Farmers Market, it was clear that we were in the midst of a serious heat wave, not to mention a major drought. Variety was pretty limited, and you could tell that the farmers had been working very hard to get whatever they could to the market. Okra however, was relatively abundant, so i decided to by a bunch and try my hand at pickling them.

Pickled Okra is quite popular in Texas, and really should be popular everywhere. The okra loses its slimines as it pickles, but maintains a good amount of crunchiness and its flavor really pops. I made 3 different batches, each with a different recipe, and I'm quite happy with all of them.

Half eaten jar of pickled okra

For batch #1 I used a Southeast Asian flavor combination of lemongrass, ginger, garlic chili peppers and rice vinegar. This was Natalie's favorite. Their was a subtle sweetness that I really liked, but I would have liked them to be a hint spicier. Next time, more chili's!

A little help for our friends...

2009-09-07T17:01:00.000-05:00

Soul Food Farm, one of Northern California's truly great farms, was recently hit by a wildfire. As most of you probably know, making it as a small farm is hard enough without any major catastrophes. The Ethicurean has a post about what is happening and what we can do to help. Please check it out and help if you can.

Signs of life

2009-08-30T19:06:00.000-05:00

I'm settling in to my new home in Austin (actually, about 45 minutes outside of Austin for the time being.) and besides the heat, I'm really enjoying it. I haven't taken in any BBQ yet, but I have been enjoying some awesome cheese from Pure Luck Dairy, some awesome beer from Shiner (Smokehouse Ale, yum!) and some awesome views from my porch. I've also been experimenting in the kitchen a little bit, pickling some eggs, making a caramelized onion jam and tonight, pickling some Okra. Unfortunately, I lost my camera, so for the time being, I can't show you any of this.

No, I didn't get lost in the wilderness...

2009-07-30T16:51:00.001-05:00

I apologize for the mini and unexpected hiatus. Apparently packing up and moving half way across the country is more work than I had anticipated, and its cutting into my blogging time. Natalie and I are one week out from pulling up the stakes in Oakland and I am swimming in boxes and garage sale prep. Still, before we depart, I will try to write about some of my favorite Bay Area spots. Stay tuned!

And, if you're in the neighborhood on saturday, stop by the garage sale!

Going Camping...

2009-07-16T18:49:00.000-05:00

I'm going camping this weekend! I brined a mess of pork chops to get ready.

See you all next week.

The Butchery Zeitgiest rolls on...

2009-07-15T23:04:00.001-05:00

Last week, the New York Times had a doozy of an article about hip young butchers. While I can't get as worked up about it as Larbo does, the author doesn't do much of a service to the people she's writing about. I don't want to come across as the pot calling the kettle black. I am, of course, one of the "young would be butchers who want internships" and I have had the pleasure of working with and learning from several of the folks in this article, but I don't miss the irony of butchering being compared to indie rock. Been there done that, you know? Anyway, cheers to Melanie from Avedano's who says: “We never did it to be rock stars. For me, it was a way to promote small farms and certain fish. That’s it.”

As an antidote to all that young hipness, check out my photos of old school meat markets and deli's in New York.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Parts & Labor: Corned Beef Tongue pt 2

2009-07-14T19:10:00.000-05:00

Sorry I'm a little late getting this posted. I Hope none of you were following along at home waiting for me. Then again, even if you were, you could have just left the tongue in the brine and you would have been fine. (Though you might want to soak it in water over night to mellow out the saltiness.)

When we last met, our tongue was brining in the fridge. I let the tongue brine for about 10 days to make sure the brine saturated the tongue completely. By the time it was done, the meat had a nice pink color and a moist, almost gelatinous texture. This, by the way, is how it is supposed to look.

After removing the tongue from the brine, I dumber all the liquid, but strained out the seasonings to use later. Next, the tongue goes into a pot with with water, carrots, onion, celery and the reserved seasoning.

Bring to a boil and let it go for about and hour, then comes the fun part... The outer skin of the tongue is tough and not enjoyable to eat, but luckily it peels off easily after boiling.

It is import to peel the skin while the tongue is still hot, otherwise it will be hard to get off. At this point, I cut a hunk of the tongue off, rubbed it with a seasoning mixture and threw it in the smoker to make pastrami. The rest went back in the water and cooked for another couple of hours.

Pastrami ready for the smoker

Corned tongue, ready to eat!

In my mind, the best way to eat corned beef and/or pastrami is in a a Reuben sandwich, and so that's what I did. I started a batch of sauerkraut a couple of days before i started the tongue brining and made a pretty darn good sandwich, if i do say so myself.

I know that brisket is more popular cut of meat, but as far as I'm concerned, save it for the barbecue. When it comes to corned beef, I'll take tongue any day!

The Butcher's Table

2009-07-12T01:17:00.001-05:00

Sure, you've sat at the chef's table of your favorite restaurant, but have you ever sat at the butcher's table? A16 Restaurant has a little thing going on for lunch on Wednesdays. They get their pigs in for the week and break them down in front of any guest adventurous enough to pull a seat up at the counter that runs the length of the kitchen. For some, watching a dead pig get dissected into the various cuts of meat that eventually end up on your plate might be, well, less than appetizing. Lucky for me, I'm long past that point.

It was an impressive sight watching the crew make quick work of the pig and a half that would become a week's worth of pork for the restaurant.

For lunch we ordered a salad, pizza with anchovies, black olives and chili oil, with a fresh egg on top and the trippa alla Napoletana. This was my first time having tripe, and man was it good. The texture was wonderful, smooth but not slimy, firm but not chewy, and the flavor infused throughout the whole dish. If you've never had tripe and are at all squeamish about trying it, this is the dish to be introduced to.

Between the corned tongue (which I will finish posting about soon, I promise), this and some Fatted Calf Liverwurst, I've been having an adventurous gastronomic week, with each one exceeding my expectations.

My New Favorite Blog

2009-07-09T23:31:00.000-05:00

Charcuterie Sundays = awesome!

Nothing says the 4th of July like Hot Dogs!

2009-07-04T23:22:00.000-05:00

For home sausage makers, hot dogs are a challenge. They require more equipment, greater temperature control and have a much higher likely hood of going wrong than regular sausages. While hot dogs are sometimes looked down upon compared to many of their fellow sausages, they actually take a great deal of skill to pull off. I'm always up for a challenge, so in honor of the holiday, I decided to take a crack at America's favorite food.

I started out with 100% grass fed beef chuck from Marin Sun Farms and some Oregon pork (The name of the farm escapes me), both of which I purchased at the new Berkeley Bowl West. As I said before, temperature control is very important with hot dogs, so after cutting the meat into chunks I stuck it in the freezer for a while to cool off. After that I ground it and mixed it with seasonings like a regular sausage, and again stuck it back in the freezer. Here's where it gets interesting. Hot dogs have the smooth texture that we know and love because they are emulsified by blending the meat with water and an emulsifying agent, in this case whole milk powder. I did by blending the meat with ice water and the milk powder in my CuisinArt food processors. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of this step, but you can see the before and after shots of the meat in the third and fourth photo. After emulsifying it, the meat is smooth, homogeneous paste. After emulsifying, it went back in the freezer again (Temperature control!) while I set up my stuffer. As you can shttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifee, my stuffer is an old cast iron monstrosity. Its really better for than it is for stuffing sausages, but it gets the job done.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

After stuffing and linking the sausages, I smoked them to add flavor and raise the internal temperature, then steamed them to finish cooking. (Internal temperature between 152 and 155) Finally, I gave them a shower in cold water to bring the temperature down and avoid wrinkling. Presto! We have hot dogs.

I followed Ryan Farr's sagely advice and made Beans & Weenies. Unfortunately, we ate them so fast no one got a picture...

Marlow & Daughters

2009-06-28T22:46:00.000-05:00

Tom Mylan and the crew at Marlow & Daughters have been getting a lot of well deserved praise since they opened. Marlow & Daughters is the sister (ahem) butcher shop to the Marlow & Sons, Diner and Bonita Restaurants. While I was in New York, I spent a couple of days hanging around the shop, doing my best to take pictures without getting in the way. One of the things that immediately jumped out at me is that their is no back room at Marlow & Daughters. Everything from breaking beef quarters to making Sausage is done in plain view of anyone who happens to be in the store. I asked Tom if customers ever get grossed out by this, and he said it has happened a few times, but that most of their customers like the transparency. As Tom said, this isn't the Butcher Shop for everyone. Customers looking for enough Beef Tenderloin to serve 15, or for boneless skinless chicken breast aren't going to get what they're looking for here.

Bringing it in...

... and breaking it down.

What Marlow & Daughters is, is a great butcher shop featuring meat from local farms that are working hard to raise their animals the right way. The transparency that comes from butchering right in front of the customer runs through the shop and extends to the farmers who are supplying it. If you ask what farm your steak came from, they can tell you. And if you call up the farm, you can probably go visit.

In addition to some mighty fine looking cuts of meat, they also sausage, some charcuterie items, and a small amount of prepared or ready to cook items (the marinated duck heart skewers got my attention!) In addition, they have a great selection of artisinal products, including some of the best American cured meats, including Fra' Mani, Benton Hams, La Quercia and Salumeria Biellese. Mix in some local eggs, dairy and produce and and you have a great shop with a great sense of community. While I was there a guy came by with some homemade mozzarella to share and get feedback. This is definitely the kind of butcher I'd like to have in my neighborhood.

Parts & Labor: Corned Beef Tongue pt 1

2009-06-24T22:40:00.001-05:00

My last couple of posts were kind of wordy, so I'm gonna let the pictures do most of the talking on this one. Corned (or brined or pickled) Beef is beef, most often brisket, that has been brined and then is boiled before serving. Beef tongue makes a great substitute for brisket because boiling is the best way to cook tongue. I used the Lobel's Meat Bible recipe for Corned Beef, but replaced the brisket with tongue.*

I like to get all my ingredients ready before I start cooking.

The celery and onion are just for decoration, they don't get added until we boil the corned tongue.

Here is our tongue. I forgot to take a picture before I put it in the brine. This one has been bringing for about a day, but I pulled it out to take a look. The texture and color are already beginning to change from the brining. Tongues can be a bit hard to brine all the way through, so I used a brine injector to shoot it full of brine before I put it into the brining bucket.

Here is the tongue, back in the brining bucket. As you can see, not all of the tongue is submerged in the brine, so...

I put a plate on top to weigh it down and make sure the entire tongue stays submerged in the brine. Throw some plastic wrap on the top, stick it in the fridge and forget about it for a couple of days. After 3 days, move the tongue so that the part that has been at the bottom of the bucket is on the top. Put it back in the fridge and forget about it for a few more days.

My tongue will be done brining next week. Check back then for the final steps and to see how I serve it. (Here's a hint: I also have a batch of sauerkraut on the way.)

* Both out of fear of legal consequences and respect for the authors and publishers of books, I'm not going to reproduce recipes on the blog.

Part(s) of the solution

2009-06-23T16:17:00.000-05:00

Following up on my last post, I wanted to continue with the importance of changing our approach to eating meat. If we follow the economics of "less for more" consumers will either have to eat less meat or spend more money. For the "average" consumer this is going to be a tough pill to swallow. Despite a growing awareness about the risks and rewards of different models of food production, most people are dealing with the much more immediate concern of feeding their families on a limited budget.

As I said in my last post, I think that eating all parts of an animal is an important aspect of changing our consumption habits. While there is certainly a stigma attached to "variety meats", offal or my personal favorite term, parts, there are tons of good reasons to be a little adventurous. Perhaps the greatest incentive is the cost, since most of these cuts provide a great deal of nutrition and, yes, flavor for a much more affordable price. (These things are of course connected. Much of the stigma around eating parts is that they have historically been poor people's food.) Luckily, many chef's are taking it upon themselves to envangelize on behalf of parts, none more so than Chris Cosentino of Incanto and Boccalone fame. If parts are safe for fine dining, then what's the problem with bringing them home as well?

Well, I know from first hand experience, the biggest obstacle is figuring out how the hell to cook it! First off, Fergus Henderson's cookbooks are an invaluable resource. Once you get them, check out this great blog by a home chef working his way through the recipes. In addition, while I don't claim to be in Henderson or Cosentino's league, I am going to add my voice to the choir and start posting about my home experimentations. Come back tomorrow to find out what will be the first mystery meat!

Less for more

2009-06-18T15:37:00.000-05:00

Jay from The Linkery has some interesting thoughts about the idea of a "less for more economy," the idea being that we need to change our consumption habits towards consuming less quantity, but higher quality and therefore more expensive items. The original blog post at The Plastic Society touches on food as one aspect, but Jay goes into more depth. This is a pretty bold position for a business owner to take. I don't think there are too many ad agencies out there that would recommend their clients slogan be "We'll give you less and charge you more for it, but for a good reason." But if we step back and think about what qualities we want in our food, "cheap" shouldn't really rank all that high. For me, nutritious, flavorful, safe and sustainable all immediately come to mind before cheap.

I think that this is even more important when it comes to meat. Health concerns from E. coli and mad cow, to heart disease and colon cancer are all linked to consumption of meat, especially "cheap" meat. In addition, as consumers, we've been tricked into believing that meat is a commodity, essentially all the same regardless of where its from or how its raised, and that the most desirable cuts are all middle steaks. In essence, we've come to expect that we can eat filet mignon all the time, anytime, anywhere, that it should be relatively inexpensive, and that it should taste the same all the time. The problems with this, though, are too numerous to list. (Read the Omnivores Dilemma, Fast Food Nation, or Food Matters for a more complete run down.)

The reality is that good, healthy meat is expensive, and we need far less of it than the average U.S. consumer eats. Government subsidies have made bad, unhealthy meat artificially inexpensive, and so most of us eat way too much of it. Even under the best of circumstances, I can't envision changing our production and distribution systems to be healthy and sustainable without also changing our consumption habits. Obviously this means eating less meat, but it also means eating all of the animal. So, if you haven't yet, head down to your butcher and buy some oxtail or beef cheeks, pig trotters or lamb shanks. Don't be scared, ask the butcher how to cook it, or look a recipe up on the internet. It will be a whole lot cheaper than the filet mignon and it might just taste a whole lot better.

Maybe this should have been a BBQ blog...

2009-06-15T13:33:00.000-05:00

17th St Bar & Grill Ribs and Beans

While BBQ is certainly well within the realm of what I thought this blog was going to be about, I didn't think it would be quite so prominent of a feature. But, as the saying goes "When life gives you BBQ... What are you complaining about, BBQ is the the greatest thing in the world!" This past weekend, life gave me a little more BBQ at the 7th Annual Big Apple BBQ Block Party. With Pitmasters coming in from around the country, this is the kind of event that would be worth planning a trip around, but for me it was just a happy accident. In fact, I only found out about it last week when the Southern Foodways blog mentioned it. Upon finding out, I quickly decided that in lieu of my third trip to Fette Sau, I would get my BBQ fix at the festival. (Now, I know you are asking yourself, "why not go to the block party AND go back to Fette Sau?" The answer is quite simple really. It's pizza. I only have so many meals to eat in New York and I have to make sure I eat enough pizza to last me until my next trip.)

I don't think there was bad BBQ to be found, but I decided to focus in on the guys who had traveled north for the event. The Salt Lick was there serving their unrivaled brisket, but I've been to the Salt Lick and will have ample chance to return in the future. I ultimately decided on 3 pitmasters: Ed Mitchell from The Pit in Raleigh, Patrick Martin from Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint in Nashville, and Mike Mills of 17th St Bar & Grill in Murphysboro, IL and Memphis Championship Barbecue in Las Vegas (He's also the author of Peace, Love & Barbecue).

Mike Mills was cooking up some unbelievable ribs, with a wonderful crust, great smokey flavor and great sauce. Next time I'm visiting my family in Illinois I'm going to have to make the trip to Murphysboro because I will be dreaming of these ribs for a long, long time.

Both Ed Mitchell and the Martin's crew were doing Whole Hog BBQ, but with a couple of notable differences. Martin's was using wood that they burned down to coals and then placed in the smoker and Mitchell was using charcoal. The other big difference was that Martin's put a small dab of tomato based barbecue sauce on the sandwiches, while Mitchell uses a vinegar based sauce on the meat but no additional sauce on the sandwich. Both sandwiches had a coleslaw topping.

Unfortunately, my eyes were bigger than my stomach and I only ended up getting to try Martin's sandwich. It was really quite wonderful, with wonderful flavor and a complex texture. They were also giving small pieces of skin to those interested. It was very flavorful but very tough, definitely not for the meek.

Martin's Sandwiches

Pile of skin at Martin's

Despite having my appetite completely defeated by ribs and a sandwich, I decided to spend some time watching Ed Mitchell practice his art. It was a sight to behold. Not a measuring cup to be found, salt, sugar, pepper, vinegar and chili peppers were added to the meat by the bottle and and handful. I also enjoyed watching one person after another coming by to get their picture taken with Ed. There is no doubt about it, the man is a superstar. I had a brief conversation with Ed and I was interested to find out that he raised his own pigs. This is clearly a man who know a thing or two about pigs.

Pitmaster Ed Mitchell getting the fire going

Ready for the grill

Close it up and cook until tomorrow

Isn't it about time for a post about salt and time?

2009-06-12T11:41:00.000-05:00

Despite naming this blog Salt & Time, I haven't really posted much about the wonders of using salt and time to "cook" food. Chow has a great video up about Alex Hozven "master pickler" from Cultured Pickle Shop in Berkeley. As Alex tells us, the Japanese word for pickles is Sukimono, which means to alter without the use of heat. Check it out:

Fette Sau, pt 2: The Food

2009-06-10T16:36:00.000-05:00

So by now, you already know that Fette Sau looks cool, but the burning questions remains unanswered. How is the meat? In order to have a well informed opinion, I found it necessary to make two trips in a 36 hour time period, and while I think it still have little chunks of pork belly floating in my veins, I'm already salivating at the thought of a third trip before I leave town.

On my first trip I went with friends, which had the advantage of getting to try lots of different things, but had the disadvantage of having to share it with them. We got pulled pork, pork ribs, veal breast and a couple of links. A couple of rolls, sides of beans, pickles and kraut, and a gallon of beer and we were ready to dine!

First, the sides: The pickles were great, nice and crispy with a very clean mild taste. The freshness of the cucumbers really came through, the kraut was also nice and crispy, it tasted like it had not been cooked or pasteurized (hooray!) but was also a very light flavor. The rolls were fluffy and moist. There was no butter for them, but it didn't matter once you jammed some meat in there. Finally, the beans were my least favorite. They were good, but they were somewhere in between chili and baked beans. I like my baked beans a little sweeter.

The beer was Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold. It was cold, tasty and came in a glass jug. I'm not much for writing about beer, but if you want to read a good beer blog go here.

Now, on to the main course. Let's start with the ribs. Mmm... ribs. While I generally prefer baby back ribs, these St. Louis Style Spare ribs were incredible. They were moist flavorful and tender, the kind of ribs you lay in bed dreaming about. They were great without any sauce, which is the true test of good BBQ. The ribs and the pulled shoulder were both from Duroc breed hogs. The pulled pork was nice and moist with a good flavor. I piled it on a bun with a small squirt of sauce and spicy mustard and had myself a real nice sandwich. Next up was the spicy sausage, also pork but this time from Berkshire pigs. The sausage was excellent, though not very spicy. I could have sworn I tasted some fennel, which I found interesting. I don't usually think of fennel in smoked sausage, but it tasted great. Finally, for this meal anyway, was the veal breast. I've never had veal BBQ before, and I'm not sure that I would pick it again. It was kind of what I expected, very tender and fatty but without a whole lot of flavor. You know, like veal. Of all the meats, this was the only one that really needed sauce.

A couple of days later, I decided that I really needed to eat at Fette Sau again. After all, I hadn't had the pork belly OR the brisket. I mean, it was practically like I hadn't eaten there at all, you know? So, I returned to dine alone at Fette Sau. This time, I made sure to get the aforementioned items, plus sausage and potato salad. The potato salad was tangy and mustardy, the dressing was not over the top creamy, but not a vinaigrette either. The brisket was a little dry in parts, but this may just be because I am judging it against the greatest brisket in the world. The pork belly more than made up for it though. As you can probably imagine, the belly was incredibly moist and fatty, and I mean that in the best possible way. Occasionally I would take a bight with a little more meat than the others, and it was like finding a buried treasure of flavor. When it comes to the belly, a little bit goes a long way, but it is absolutely wonderful.

As you can see from the above photo, I wasted no time getting down to business on trip number two. That is, by the way, the pork belly on the left, the sausage in the middle and the brisket on the right. One thing that was odd was that this time the Spicy Sausage did not have fennel in it. Maybe they made a different batch, but I thought without the fennel it seemed to be missing a little something.

Though I haven't mentioned it yet, one of the great things about Fette Sau is that they make a point of buying quality meat from small and local farms. They list the farms on their website, which I think is great. (I would link to the page but its a fancy flash site, so I can't, but its under the "About Us" section.) We should all celebrate the farmers who are working hard to provide us with high quality and sustainably raised food. Cheers to Fette Sau and their farmers.

Big City paper on small town BBQ

2009-06-10T09:59:00.001-05:00

Thanks to my new friend Zane who sent me this link to an article in the New York Times about Scott's Variety Store and Bar-B-Q:

"In the manner now expected of the nation’s white-tablecloth chefs, the Scotts shop local, whenever possible. They buy pigs from farms in three nearby counties. And they turn to Mel’s Meat Market, in the nearby town of Aynor, for butcher work and delivery."

It sounds like these guys do things a lot like the folks in "Whole Hog," even if they are a state or two over.

Fette Sau - big city BBQ done right

2009-06-09T15:58:00.000-05:00

My friend Paul has been demanding that I go to Fette Sau since I arrived in New York, and his urgency is understandable. Fette Sau is great barbecue smack in the middle of Brooklyn. Big cities and BBQ are not always so compatible (Oakland, for example!) and true aficionados are rightfully skeptical of city slicker claims of good BBQ. (Watch the video in the previous post if you don't believe me.) But the second you walk in to Fette Sau, all your fears of boiled and grilled meat drenched in canned sauce fall away. As you walk past the wood pile on your way in, the smell of smoke welcomes you, and smoke is the second most important ingredient in BBQ.

Fette Sau's aesthetic borrows generously from Southern BBQ shacks but it is also unmistakeably Brooklyn hipster. The cut chart wall mural is awesome, and I loved the butcher tools for draught handles.

Okay, enough of how the place looked. Lets get down to business, how was the food...

Come back tomorrow to find out!

Dad's Finds

2009-06-04T21:22:00.000-05:00

When it comes to finding interesting sights on the internet, my dad Tom is a mad genius. His technique is unorthodox, but he find's great stuff.

Dad, hunting the internet for cool shit.

One of my favorite sights that he's found is the Southern Foodways Alliance. Based at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, the Atlantic Monthly describes the SFA “this country’s most intellectually engaged food society.” SFA publishes Cornbread Nation, sponsors all kinds of great events and has an awesome website. My favorite part of the sight is their documentary film project and my favorite of the films is "Whole Hog."

Whole Hog from Joe York on Vimeo.

The SFA has tons of great resources including, a blog, podcasts, a monthly newsletter and so much more. Spend some time on the SFA's sight, you will be glad you did.

photo of Dad courtesy of Beer & Nosh. Yes, my dad is a food blog superstar.

On the ground in New York City

2009-06-04T19:11:00.000-05:00

I arrived in New York last night and had a great meal at an Argentinian place, which I will right about in great detail later. The blog will be a little quiet for the next couple of days, but will be back with a vengeance next week.

South Bay Sausage Tour, pt 2

2009-06-01T16:03:00.000-05:00

After eating lunch at Neto's, we headed up to Mountain view to check out Dittmers Gourmet Meats & Wurst-Haus. Holy Crap! Dittmer's is out of control, they have an incredible variety of sausages, smoked meats and cured meats. They make everything on sight except for their Italian Salumi and proscuitto because, well, Dittmer is German not Italian, and he's go the accent to prove it.

Dittmer!

After seeing the incredible variety of products they were selling, I was not surprised to learn that they break whole hogs at Dittmer's. It's clear that nothing goes to waste; Head Cheese, Liverwurst, smoked Hocks, if it comes from a pig then Dittmer will make it taste awesome and sell it to you.

Dittmer's has more going on than just Pork Sausage though. They also are a full service butcher shop with fresh cuts of beef, pork, lamb, veal and poultry and they are a full service deli. Unfortunately I was still stuffed from lunch, but I did grab a landjagger, some beef jerky and some sausage. The landjagger was nice and smokey. The grind was coarser than I expected which gave it a hardy texture. The jerky was wonderfully smokey and rich with just the right amount of sweetness. The sausage, unfortunately, went in the freezer, but I'll report back when it gets eaten.

Good Omens

2009-05-30T22:32:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I attended a a free knife skills demonstration at Omnivore Books on Food. Peter Hertzmann, the author of the excellent Knife Skills Illustrated as well as the à la carte website, was the guest of honor. He demonstrated the basic techniques and offered a lot of insight about to get the most out of your knives. I picked up a copy of the book, and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in improving their knife skills.

Peter was a lot of fun and was a great teacher. He teaches Knife Skills at the Palo Alto and Los Gatos locations of Sur La Table, if you get a chance, take one of his classes. In addition to having a background in Chinese and French cooking, Peter has been learning the art of Butchery in recent years, so I really enjoyed talking to him about his experiences and getting his feedback.

For those of you in the Bay Area, if you haven't been to Omnivore Books yet, you really need to go. It is a fantastic bookstore with an amazing variety of cook books and books on food. They have a great selection of current books, but even more impressive is their collection of antique and out of print books on food.

I was surprised to find out that Omnivore Books is in an old butcher shop, and they have the rails and walk in cooler to prove it. The USDA and local health agencies have done their best to get rid of rails in butcher shops, and old wood walk ins like this one are almost non-existent. As much as I love Omnivore Books, I couldn't help but think how great it would be to put the old butcher shop set-up back to work!

I consider it a good omen that even when I go to an event about cutting vegetables at a book store it turns out to be taught by a butcher at a butcher shop!

Touring Chez Panisse

2009-05-29T23:56:00.000-05:00

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

My good friend and fellow culinary traveller, Kevin, has been doing an internship at the one and only Chez Panisse for the last couple of weeks. Today, I was lucky enough to get a tour of the kitchen. Unfortunately, my camera battery died early in the tour (amateur!), so I'll have to try to express how impressive it was with mere words.

First off I have to admit that I've never eaten at Chez Panisse. This is slightly embarrassing, given its well deserved reputation and the role it plays as an incubator for so many talented chefs. Many of my favorite restaurants and other food businesses boast Chez Panisse alums as Chefs and owners. If I needed a reminder of the importance of Chez Panisse and what it represents, I got it while waiting outside for Kevin. Two different groups of people came and posed for pictures on the front stairs. When such a low key building can create such a starstruck reaction, you know there is something going on there.

A lot of things stuck out for me on the tour, but none more so than the smell behind the restaurant. The smell I generally associate with being behind a restaurant on a hot day is not pleasant. But at Chez Panisse it smelled like fresh herbs. I was literally standing next to the garbage can thinking how good it smelled.

The kitchen itself is beautiful. It opens to the dining room so diners can get a good look at whats going on, but it is set back enough so the hustle and bustle doesn't screw with the mood. (Those of you who have been there already know this, but like I said, it was my first time!) It is a nice open kitchen with natural light and despite being full of people is surprisingly spacious. I was really impressed with how they used out door storage (screened in to protect from bugs of course) to store ingredients, such as avocados, that don't like the chilly confines of a cooler.

I had a chance to talk to one of the Sous Chefs about the butchering they do, and the relative merits of Chicken, Quail and Squab while he was preparing some beautiful looking Soul Food Farm chickens for their evening presentation. Chez Panise buys whole lamb, goat, pork and poultry and butchers it in house, which is no surprise given the guiding philosophy behind the restaurant.

Lamb quarters hanging in the cooler

They also make their own prosciutto, pancetta and other cured meats. Here are some prosciuttos ready to serve:

And here are the pancettas and salumis hanging in the drying room:

Chez Panisse is an inspiring place. I will definitely come back to eat, and hopefully to learn as well.

South Bay Sausage Tour, pt 1

2009-05-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

I've been hearing about a couple of top notch sausage shops in the South Bay for a while now, so earlier this week my Dad and I decided to head south and check them out.

First up was Neto Sausage Co. in Santa Clara. This family run operation has been in business since 1948, bringing the family's secret recipes over from Portugal. Their current location is a no frills operation, with an outdoor grill and a small deli and market inside.

You order your sausage, which are patties not links, outside and then take them in to get your bread and toppings. You can also buy fresh sausages (in links) and a wide variety of cheeses, some Portuguese wines and an interesting variety of other foods, primarily Portuguese in origin.

The sausage patties are quite large and really tasty. My dad got Cajun and I went for the Italian. Looking back on it, I probably should have gone for a Portuguese variety to get the full experience, but I was enjoyed my Italian quite a bit. I'm not totally sure why they do patties instead of links, though I imagine it has something to do with getting the meat cooked evenly throughout. While I appreciate the fact that they're doing it their way, I prefer my sausage in links, especially for grilling.

Their are big things in the works for Neto, they're in the process of opening a full service restaurant and bar. I hope their awesome delivery truck makes it to the new location along with their sausage.

Happy Hour at Adesso.

2009-05-28T00:36:00.000-05:00

I finally made it to Adesso for happy hour today and I will definitely be back. Free food at happy hour isn't usually this good. They put out a nice selection from the menu, but if you want to try one of the 30 different house cured meats you'll have to pay for it, as they don't seem to be included in the free fare. I'm not complaining though, the salumi is well worth it and the drinks are great. I know where I'll be watching the rest of the NBA playoffs.

I'm not so original...

2009-05-25T22:44:00.000-05:00

A few months back my wife Natalie gave me a look of shock and horror and said "You want to become a butcher?!" To be fair, it's not unusual for her to shoot me looks of shock and horror, and they don't necessarily mean that she is actually shocked or horrified. Still, we had only been eating meat for a couple months after years of vegetarianism and veganism, and this was quite a bomb I was dropping. I though that being a former vegan turned wannabe butcher would make me a bit of an oddity; it might even give me a foot in the door with the butchers I hoped to learn from. It turns out, though, that far from being an oddity, I'm actually a bit late to the party. This article in Gourmet Magazine profiles a number of former vegetarians turned butchers. I have some ideas about what is behind this mini trend, but I'm going to wait a while before making any bold pronouncements on my nascent blog.

Nonetheless, I am undeterred by my lack of originality, and I'm setting out on a journey to visit, and hopefully learn from, some of the best butchers in the country. I'll be chronicling my travels as well as my experiments at home with meat, and occasionally other food groups as well. Oh yeah, the name refers to the two ingredients that can transform any number of foods, most notably cabbage and pork, into some of the tastiest morsels on the planet.

Photo of Fleisher's Meats courtesy of The Green Fork.

Inside the curing chamber

2009-05-23T23:53:00.000-05:00

On the Farm

2009-05-21T22:46:00.000-05:00