Another Porktastic day, Part one: The Fatted Calf.

    

The glory that is The Fatted Calf, if you haven't been lucky enough to visit this temple of meat and all things cured and holy...its time to go! 

The Fatted Calf offers a variety of Meaty goods, Sausages, Pâtés, Confits, Salumi, and weekly specials. 

They are an artisan Charcuterie shop that does it right, using natural, organic and hormone free meats. Everything is done is small batches by hand. I know this because this is the first place I learned to break down a pig, working along the side of Taylor Boetticher, Charcuterie/ Butcher ninja master and great teacher.

For lunch I had the Pork Pastrami Sandwich. A tasty little thing with a fresh and crunchy cabbage slaw, a zingy grain mustard sauce and a well made rustic bread. A must try. 

On a side note if you haven't had the Porchetta Sandwich, you gotta get one...or two of those!

Stay tuned next time for crispity clouds of porkaliciousness...

Fatted Calf
The Oxbow Public Market
644 C First Street
Napa, CA 94559

http://fattedcalf.com/

A Porktastic adventure, Part two: Flying pigs & a big mouth.

After indulging in a couple of donuts and curing my morning sweet tooth, I'm craving something meatier. I need look no further than San Francisco's own Boccalone, where they specialize in "Tasty salted pig parts".

This fine salumeria is solely devoted to the majestic pig, their heritage pigs are pasture raised, antibiotic and hormone free, sustainable, hand butchered and cured in small batches.

When you walk into Boccalone you smell the wonderful aroma of salumi and see an aging room with glass doors adorn with beautiful cured meats. There is a great assortment of fresh sausages, cured meats, and rare specialties like porchetta di testa, ciccioli, and sanguinaccio, the later which will soon become my lunch, but not before I sample the salumi cone as a quick snack.

Sanguinaccio, black pudding, blood sausage, boudin noir what ever you call it, what ever the origin, it is all delicious! This delectable treat has to be one of my top five favorite foods, and the sanguinaccio from Boccalone is among the best I've had. Its made up of pork blood, pork heart, buckwheat kernels, spices, a touch of chili and love...it's so good.

I gently cooked the sausages over a low heat in a skillet and served it with sauteed apples, both on top a crispy golden boxty...almost too good with a pint of cider.

Boccalone is co-owned by Chef Chris Cosentino and Mark Pastore of Incanto restaurant in San Francisco.

Boccalone salumeria

Ferry building marketplace

Shop 21

San Francisco, CA 94111

http://www.boccalone.com/

http://www.incanto.biz/