Cure Perfection

Chefs all over town are investing some serious time in the most heavenly triumvirate: salt, fat and pig.

Bacar’s salami Toscano (foreground); beef Bresaola (sliced) and fat-studded salami Toscano (background) from Jardinière.

Those who relish culinary trend-spotting will tell you: In the past year the charcuterie plate has become the latest measure of a chef ’s worth. Excuse the innuendo, but in certain kitchens about town, you’re not a man until you’ve got a handle on your salami—or better yet, something made with bittier bits, such as trotters or jowl or pig’s ear, such as the terrine that captured the attention of chef Robbie Lewis of Bacar while dining at Oliveto’s culty Whole Hog dinner. “I really dug it,” he says. “Plus, it was pretty on the plate.” While Lewis, who currently has about 1,000 pounds of salumi hanging in his restaurant locker, obviously isn’t playing around, Paul Bertolli—the former chef of Oliveto, author of Cooking by Hand (which contains a chapter with charcuterie-making minutiae) and founder and curemaster of Fra’Mani—is considered the real guru. Next in line is Chris Cosentino of Incanto, who recently launched a retail line of salumi under the name Boccalone with the cheeky tagline “Tasty Salted Pig Parts.” Inspired by the likes of British chef Fergus Henderson (author of The Whole Beast: Nose toTail Eating), cooks are using the whole hog to make charcuterie. All over San Francisco, trucks are double-parking outside restaurants to deliver 300-pound pigs from such farms as Prather Ranch and Devil’s Gulch, and chefs are finding great satisfaction in being able to break down (industry lingo for “butcher”) the pigs themselves.“Once a month, we bring in a whole pig,” says Steffan Terje of Perbacco. “And nothing is wasted.”

(LEFT): from top to bottom: saucisson sec from CAV. Pork tenderloin is transformed at Laïola into lomito embuchada. Laïola’s salchichón, flavored with garlic and paprika and smoked over oak. (RIGHT): Bacar’s Potted rabbit rillettes.

While Mark Denham, chef of the Spanish restaurant Laïola, is setting out spicy slices of salchichón, Terje has been tinkering with everything from lamb prosciutto to a blood salami made with cocoa (his own idea) to a coppa crafted from cured pork shoulder soaked in wine and crushed grapes for about a month, then hung to cure for another seven. “Something that was a hobby has turned into a monster,” he says. “We didn’t think it would be as popular as it is. I just did an event where we brought out 19 different kinds of salumi.” Diners reveling in the city’s new batch of sophisticated Italian restaurants are doing their best to eat up. Should you be among the cognoscenti when the menu arrives, remember that the word salumi is Italian for any salted, cured meat—including salami, fresh sausages and cooked items such as mortadella—whereas salami (plural for salame) only includes the dried sausages. Charcuterie, on the other hand, is an umbrella term for anything from salumi to terrines and rillettes—mostly made from pork. Unlike the fast-lane tactics normally demanded of those cooking on the line, making salumi is truly a Slow Food venture. Some varieties take anywhere from a month to a year and a half to cure, which is a long time to wait to find out whether the seasoning, texture or fat content isn’t quite right. “Just about every third batch is a disaster,” says Denham. “It’s very unpredictable.” But well worth it. Chefs admit they’re profiting from the craze too. “I’d like to wax on about artisanal-charcuterie programs, but it’s also a very cost-effective thing to do,” says Lewis. As to the popularity of salumi, he puts it this way: “Who doesn’t like cold cuts, for Christ’s sake?”

 

the charcuterie plate: bite by bite
Jardiniere's Finocchiona is seasoned with fennel pollen. Pepperoni from CAV gets cozy with Perbacco's Lardo.	Bresaola In olden days, lean, spice-rubbed beef was left to cure on the rooftops of homes in the Italian Alps, where the mountain winds workedtheir magic, air-drying the meat. Ciccioli this rich, country-style pork terrine is made from pork meat and skin, generously seasoned with rosemary and black pepper. We like it spread on grilled toast. Coppa a favorite of The Sopranos cast, coppa is made from well-marbled, seasoned pork shoulder or neck that has been air-dried Variations include a spicy version spiked with cayenne and another soaked in red wine and grape must. Coppa di TesTa Like a porky Jell-O, coppa di testa is made from the tender meat of a pig’s head (from cheeks to tongue), and bound with gelatin-rich pork stock. It’s also known as headcheese. FinoCChiona seasoned with fragrant fennel, this large-format Tuscan-style salame could win a popularity contest and is often featured on antipasti platters. FuÈT This thin salame with a hint of sweetness is typically found in the Catalan region of spain. lardo sometimes called “the butter of Italy,” lardo is a solid piece of pork back fat seasoned with aromatic and left to cure. Thinly sliced, it melts into warm toast like porcine olive oil. lonza similar in taste to prosciutto, lonza is cured pork loin— extremely lean and flavorful, it makes a killer sandwich. Mortadella Before Oscar Meyer got involved, mortadella was the definitive “bologna” hailing from—where else?— Bologna, Italy. Gently spiced, studded with bits of fat and pistachios and thinly sliced, the real deal is a treat. Pancetta Like unsmoked bacon, pancetta is made from pork belly that has been seasoned and cured. It should be cooked before eating, and makes a mean P.L.T. Prosciutto Often called the “king of ham,” prosciutto is a drycured hind leg of pork, left to age for years until it acquires a silky texture and a distinctive sweet-nutty flavor. Most prosciutto is imported from Italy (Parma being its famous hometown), but a couple of local chefs are attempting to make their own. rillettes Pork, duck or rabbit is seasoned, gently poached until tender and coarsely shredded. Some of the cooking fat is added back in to moisten the mixture, which is then packed into ramekins and sealed with a thin layer of rendered fat. The perfect pâté for the liver-averse. salaMi toscano Like what Mom used to put on your sandwich—the classic, seasoned with red wine, fennel and black pepper. salchichÓn A larger and spicier cousin of fuèt, this Spanish salame tastes a bit like good chorizo, spiked with garlic, smoked paprika, cayenne and chili powders. saucisson sec This traditional French hard salame, subtly flavored with garlic and black peppercorn, begs to be enjoyed alongside a glass of red Burgundy.

 

meat & greet

Chef Nate Appleman of A16 (2355 Chestnut St., 415-771-2216) serves his charcuterie unadorned, one at a time, but will prepare a sample platter upon request. Signature Slice: Spicy napoletana, a salame that gets added kick from cayenne pepper.   At BAcAr (448 Brannan St., 415-904-4100), you’ll find a classic selection of salumi, but keep an eye out as you munch your mortadella—you might catch a glimpse of the chef’s bright-red vintage Bizerba meat slicer. Signature Slice: Pig’s-ear terrine, made from trimmed, brined and cooked ears.   At cAV (1666 Market St., 415-437-1770, cav.com), they age their salumi from two weeks to 16 months and create delectable pâtés and torchons. Signature Slice: seared slices of slow-cooked, deboned pork trotters, served with whole-grain mustard and pickled shallots.   Chris Cosentino uses everything from snout to tail to create the antipasto platter at IncAnto (1550 Church St., 415-641-4500). Signature Slice: Porchetta di Testa, a slow-cooked deboned pig’s head with rosemary and garlic, sliced and served cold.   A self-taught charcutier, chef de cuisine Craig Patzer started the charcuterie program at JArdInIÈre (300 Grove St., 415-861-5555) six years ago. Try his pairing of a single selection with fruit and cheese. Signature Slice: Saucisson de Lyon, an old-world french salame seasoned with black pepper, marc and mace.   LAÏoLA (2031 Chestnut St., 415-346-5641) puts a spanish spin on classic charcuterie. Signature Slice: Salchicón, a pork salame seasoned with garlic, chile and cayenne.   PerBAcco chef staffan Terje has gone hog wild—at any given time, he has more than 1,000 pounds of meat curing at the restaurant (230 California St., 415-955-0663). Signature Slice: Salame nostrano, a hard salame seasoned with garlic and black pepper.   At hot spot SPruce (3640 Sacramento St., 415-931-5100), don’t miss the house-cured prosciutto, aged more than a year. Signature Slice: Spicy coppa made from pork shoulder, a classic version of the Italian favorite.

 

pig out
	Just in time for the holidays, Incanto chef Chris Cosentino and owner Mark Pastore have rolled out Boccalone, their new salumi venture, offering the mother of all gifts for that fat-loving friend of yours: membership to the salumi society. Twice a month on “salumi saturdays” at Incanto or at the Oakland-based factory, members can pick up their box, which will contain an assortment of treats, from sliced pancetta piana (dry-cured pork belly with black pepper and rosemary) to a brown-sugar-and-fennel salame to a pack of fresh Italian sausage. Think of it as a farm box, but more exciting. Go to boccalone.biz for more information.

 

Bacar’s salami Toscano (foreground); beef Bresaola (sliced) and fat-studded salami Toscano (background) from Jardinière.

Those who relish culinary trend-spotting will tell you: In the past year the charcuterie plate has become the latest measure of a chef ’s worth. Excuse the innuendo, but in certain kitchens about town, you’re not a man until you’ve got a handle on your salami—or better yet, something made with bittier bits, such as trotters or jowl or pig’s ear, such as the terrine that captured the attention of chef Robbie Lewis of Bacar while dining at Oliveto’s culty Whole Hog dinner. “I really dug it,” he says. “Plus, it was pretty on the plate.” While Lewis, who currently has about 1,000 pounds of salumi hanging in his restaurant locker, obviously isn’t playing around, Paul Bertolli—the former chef of Oliveto, author of Cooking by Hand (which contains a chapter with charcuterie-making minutiae) and founder and curemaster of Fra’Mani—is considered the real guru. Next in line is Chris Cosentino of Incanto, who recently launched a retail line of salumi under the name Boccalone with the cheeky tagline “Tasty Salted Pig Parts.” Inspired by the likes of British chef Fergus Henderson (author of The Whole Beast: Nose toTail Eating), cooks are using the whole hog to make charcuterie. All over San Francisco, trucks are double-parking outside restaurants to deliver 300-pound pigs from such farms as Prather Ranch and Devil’s Gulch, and chefs are finding great satisfaction in being able to break down (industry lingo for “butcher”) the pigs themselves.“Once a month, we bring in a whole pig,” says Steffan Terje of Perbacco. “And nothing is wasted.”

(LEFT): from top to bottom: saucisson sec from CAV. Pork tenderloin is transformed at Laïola into lomito embuchada. Laïola’s salchichón, flavored with garlic and paprika and smoked over oak. (RIGHT): Bacar’s Potted rabbit rillettes.

While Mark Denham, chef of the Spanish restaurant Laïola, is setting out spicy slices of salchichón, Terje has been tinkering with everything from lamb prosciutto to a blood salami made with cocoa (his own idea) to a coppa crafted from cured pork shoulder soaked in wine and crushed grapes for about a month, then hung to cure for another seven. “Something that was a hobby has turned into a monster,” he says. “We didn’t think it would be as popular as it is. I just did an event where we brought out 19 different kinds of salumi.” Diners reveling in the city’s new batch of sophisticated Italian restaurants are doing their best to eat up. Should you be among the cognoscenti when the menu arrives, remember that the word salumi is Italian for any salted, cured meat—including salami, fresh sausages and cooked items such as mortadella—whereas salami (plural for salame) only includes the dried sausages. Charcuterie, on the other hand, is an umbrella term for anything from salumi to terrines and rillettes—mostly made from pork. Unlike the fast-lane tactics normally demanded of those cooking on the line, making salumi is truly a Slow Food venture. Some varieties take anywhere from a month to a year and a half to cure, which is a long time to wait to find out whether the seasoning, texture or fat content isn’t quite right. “Just about every third batch is a disaster,” says Denham. “It’s very unpredictable.” But well worth it. Chefs admit they’re profiting from the craze too. “I’d like to wax on about artisanal-charcuterie programs, but it’s also a very cost-effective thing to do,” says Lewis. As to the popularity of salumi, he puts it this way: “Who doesn’t like cold cuts, for Christ’s sake?”

the charcuterie plate: bite by bite
Jardiniere's Finocchiona is seasoned with fennel pollen. Pepperoni from CAV gets cozy with Perbacco's Lardo.	Bresaola In olden days, lean, spice-rubbed beef was left to cure on the rooftops of homes in the Italian Alps, where the mountain winds workedtheir magic, air-drying the meat. Ciccioli this rich, country-style pork terrine is made from pork meat and skin, generously seasoned with rosemary and black pepper. We like it spread on grilled toast. Coppa a favorite of The Sopranos cast, coppa is made from well-marbled, seasoned pork shoulder or neck that has been air-dried Variations include a spicy version spiked with cayenne and another soaked in red wine and grape must. Coppa di TesTa Like a porky Jell-O, coppa di testa is made from the tender meat of a pig’s head (from cheeks to tongue), and bound with gelatin-rich pork stock. It’s also known as headcheese. FinoCChiona seasoned with fragrant fennel, this large-format Tuscan-style salame could win a popularity contest and is often featured on antipasti platters. FuÈT This thin salame with a hint of sweetness is typically found in the Catalan region of spain. lardo sometimes called “the butter of Italy,” lardo is a solid piece of pork back fat seasoned with aromatic and left to cure. Thinly sliced, it melts into warm toast like porcine olive oil. lonza similar in taste to prosciutto, lonza is cured pork loin— extremely lean and flavorful, it makes a killer sandwich. Mortadella Before Oscar Meyer got involved, mortadella was the definitive “bologna” hailing from—where else?— Bologna, Italy. Gently spiced, studded with bits of fat and pistachios and thinly sliced, the real deal is a treat. Pancetta Like unsmoked bacon, pancetta is made from pork belly that has been seasoned and cured. It should be cooked before eating, and makes a mean P.L.T. Prosciutto Often called the “king of ham,” prosciutto is a drycured hind leg of pork, left to age for years until it acquires a silky texture and a distinctive sweet-nutty flavor. Most prosciutto is imported from Italy (Parma being its famous hometown), but a couple of local chefs are attempting to make their own. rillettes Pork, duck or rabbit is seasoned, gently poached until tender and coarsely shredded. Some of the cooking fat is added back in to moisten the mixture, which is then packed into ramekins and sealed with a thin layer of rendered fat. The perfect pâté for the liver-averse. salaMi toscano Like what Mom used to put on your sandwich—the classic, seasoned with red wine, fennel and black pepper. salchichÓn A larger and spicier cousin of fuèt, this Spanish salame tastes a bit like good chorizo, spiked with garlic, smoked paprika, cayenne and chili powders. saucisson sec This traditional French hard salame, subtly flavored with garlic and black peppercorn, begs to be enjoyed alongside a glass of red Burgundy.

pig out
	Just in time for the holidays, Incanto chef Chris Cosentino and owner Mark Pastore have rolled out Boccalone, their new salumi venture, offering the mother of all gifts for that fat-loving friend of yours: membership to the salumi society. Twice a month on “salumi saturdays” at Incanto or at the Oakland-based factory, members can pick up their box, which will contain an assortment of treats, from sliced pancetta piana (dry-cured pork belly with black pepper and rosemary) to a brown-sugar-and-fennel salame to a pack of fresh Italian sausage. Think of it as a farm box, but more exciting. Go to boccalone.biz for more information.

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