Tag Archives: charcuterie

Pappardella

My wife and I came here to use some of her Blackboard Eats credit. I think we got something like 30% off the bill thanks to her. Anyway, let’s get down to business.

We started with a mixed charcuterie plate. We chose mortadella, finocchiona and bresaola. This was great, but slightly pricey at $21.

Next up was wagyu carpaccio with arugula, shaved parmigiana and pistachios. I loved this. A little squirt of lemon really made this pop.

Next up was the calamari. This was served in a tomato broth of sorts, with raisins. It was too sweet, and the squid itself was really bland and flavorless, despite being nicely cooked and tender. If you go here, skip this one.

For our entrees, we tried a pair of pasta dishes. First was this “pappardelle buttera” dish with peas and sweet and hot sausage. While I didn’t get much kick from the hot sausage, the sauce and all components – including the pasta itself – were perfect. Get this one.

We also tried the tagliatelle spinachi, which was a green spinach pasta served with roasted cherry tomatoes, shrimp and Calabrian chilis. This had no heat – maybe one single chili was in the dish. Like the squid, the shrimp was also bland as well. Weak flavors for such bold ingredients. Pass on this one.

That about does it. We skipped dessert because we were pretty full. Over all this place was mediocre. Some hits, some misses. But I think if you stick with the carpaccio and the pappardelle you’ll be happy.

PAPPARDELLA
316 Columbus Ave
New York, NY 10023

Charcuterie Masters 2019

It’s that time of year!!! One of my favorite meat events is coming to Flushing Town Hall again next week on February 23rd. That’s right: Charcuterie Masters is BACK, hosted again by NY Epicurian Events.

They are a Catskill Mountains-based producer of premiere farm-to-table food and wine festivals and educational programs. They pair the agricultural bounty (including grass-finished beef, organic produce, artisan cheeses, smoked fish, and wines from the region’s lush mountain valleys and fresh water streams) with New York City’s most innovative chefs and the culinary community.

Their goals include creating jobs, driving economic development by assisting family farmers and local artisans, and fostering culinary and agricultural tourism in the Catskill-Delaware New York City Watershed. This exposes everyone – from chefs to culinary professionals to foodies to gourmets – to delicious, fresh, sustainable and healthful foods.

From the ticketing page:

“Sink your teeth into the best of the best charcuterie as artisans—makers of sausages, patés, hams, salumi, and more—gather once again to vie for top honors at the fourth annual Charcuterie Masters. Enjoy unlimited tasting of more than 60 varieties of charcuterie, including sumptuous Portuguese Alentejano ham from Rodrigo Duarte who will also be doing a butchery demonstration of this forerunner to the pig that produces Spain’s famed jamon de pata negra. Like what you taste? You can also purchase charcuterie on site.

In honor of the Year of the Pig Chef Stephen Yen of Sugarcane Raw Bar Grill will be roasting a pig in La Caja China and preparing sumptuous roast pork bao with garlic hoisin, scallions, and cucumber.

Meet the charcutiers and taste exquisite dishes prepared by top NYC chefs, including Pitmaster Josh Bowen of Queens’ very own John Brown Smokehouse and Alfonso Zhicay of Casa del Chef Bistro. Savor pairings, including beer from Queens’ Mikkeller NYC as well as cider as well as cider and top-rated wines from Rooftop Reds.
VIP guests will have access to the entire festival one hour earlier and exclusive access to the Charcuterie Masters VIP Experience, which includes exclusive charcuterie selections from Muncan Food Corp., top-shelf spirits, and a charcuterie surprise prepared by New York Epicurean Events president Chef David Noeth, as well as an exclusive charcuterie demonstration.

In addition to the prestigious Charcuterie Masters Awards there will be a People’s Choice Awards where attendees will be able to vote for their favorite charcuterie booth and restaurant!”

A $70 general admission ticket entitles guests to explore unlimited tasting and sampling of all food and beverages. Additionally, there will be $150 VIP tickets sold, which will allow access to a special hour with early access to the entire festival. You can get your ticket HERE.

Maybe I’ll see some of you meat maniacs there!!!

Perdinci Meats

I discovered Perdinci Meats at a food show in the Javitz center. I contacted their representative because I was really blown away by the quality of their meats, especially the dried, cured pork loin, or lonza. They sent me a variety pack of sample meats, including salami, guanciale (pork cheek), pork belly, that delicious lonza, and some softer spreadables like nduja and finocchiola.

These babies were tucked away in my fridge for quite a while, and I was happy to see that they held up just fine and didn’t spoil with proper storage.

The lonza is still my favorite, but all of the other products are excellent. I highly recommend this stuff.

Cochon Restaurant

Cochon Restaurant and its sister joint “Butcher” are well known in New Orleans for serving some great meaty grub.

My friends and I went in a big group, so we got to try a lot of items. Here’s the full menu (minus the daily specials).

We started with some fried gator.

These bites were excellent. Gator meat, if you haven’t had it before, is like a cross between catfish and chicken in texture: tender but springy. These were spicy and saucy but still fried up nice and crisp on the outside.

Next up, probably one of the best dishes of the meal, braised pork cheeks.

Incredibly tender, and again with a bit of spice. Awesome way to begin the meal. I could eat this over and over.

Next up, a gorgeous charcuterie board.

The standout here was the pork rillette (in the tin cup). So smooth and tasty. But everything else was really nice as well (head cheese, coppa, prosciutto, homemade bologna, and even the pickled veggies).

Liver and onions, also well executed and delicious, is what my wife ordered to start. This had a great pepper jelly that really popped. It went nicely with the fresh mint.

Fried boudin (sausage) and rice balls. These were so soft inside and crispy outside.

For my entree I ordered a rib eye (of course) that was on the list of daily specials. It was essentially the center eye part of the rib eye only – no cap at all.

While this was very small, it was priced accordingly ($28). They misfired my first cut and went over, but they were smart enough not to bring it out to me. The second one, however, was slightly under from medium rare, and it felt rushed.

No matter, though. I’d rather eat a rare steak than a well done steak. The issue for me was that it just wasn’t very good. The sauce didn’t quite do it for me, and it was described as being roasted. I was sort of expecting prime rib given the description. 5/10.

My wife ordered the winning dish here. Ham hock.

It had a delicious dry spice rub on it that was a cross between sweet and spicy, and it was cooked perfectly throughout. The veggies, yogurt and quinoa underneath was a nice touch to make the fully composed dish well rounded and complete.

Their famous dish here, the cochon, was tasty but way too salty for my liking. One or two bites was all I could do. It also wasn’t that pretty so I didn’t bother trying to get a great shot of it.

Their oyster and bacon sandwich was massive.

It was loaded with tons of fried gulf oysters and smoky bacon. And it went nicely with some of their spicy vinegar and hot sauce.

Overall this was a pretty great meal with the exception of the steak. I would definitely go here again.

COCHON RESTAURANT
930 Tchoupitoulas St
Suite A
New Orleans, LA 70130

Charcuterie Masters 2017

You animals may have seen my post about Charcuterie Masters a week or two ago. If not, go read some more about it at that link I just dropped. This post is dedicated to the incredible shit we tried at the 2017 event.

Jacuterie was showing off some incredible dried salami with regional flavoring inspirations:

Elevation got my chip for the vote though. These flavors were amazing, and every chub was worth buying.

Black truffle.

Chorizo.

Barley wine.

Breakfast (maple whisky).

Fennel:

Black pepper:

Sour ale:

Chocolate stout mole:

I also tried some pastrami flavored BBQ short rib, which was sickeningly delicious. Unbelievable.

Smoking Goose came through with some incredible game-based meats. Terrines, head cheese, you name it – all great.

Yeah you are reading that correctly – lamb soppressata.

The rabbit and pork cheek terrine was my favorite.

They had some “rust belt” salami too.

On the subject of head cheese, Dickson was on point as well:

That was a duck mortadella (round one) and the pretty one had lots of duck tongue in it.

The garlic sausage from Heather Ridge Farm was a nice bite, but their root beer syrup concentrate stole the show.

Gaseiro e Bom had 5-year aged prosciutto for $800 a pound. Or you could just eat the free samples all night, like I did.

Ends Meat had some great items. In addition to the pork they even had a little beef salumi as well.

They had a nice nduja too.

I enjoyed the pate a lot at the Trois Petits Cochons table.

I signed up for a chance to win 50lbs of bacon from Ribs Within:

Refreshments – I liked the “kinda dry” one better than the bone dry.

Smoke Show was apparently smoking a whole hog on the premesis. I knew something was up when I saw the sign and cleaver.

We heard something was going on out back, so we investigated. Turns out that Smoke Show really did put on a show:

The chopping block:

Some #SaltBae action:

And some hardcore FoodPourn:

I took some video of the chopping process, and I got upset when a little bit spilled out of the pan:

There was also some smoked alpaca from the people that run Duck’s Eatery and Harry & Ida’s:

Oh and then there was this whole room full of amazing sliced meats, pickles and pretzels with mustard. I was honestly too overwhelmed by it all. Where do I even begin?

That about does it. If you missed it, next year, make sure you go.

Charcuterie Masters

Check this out: I just got press access to this amazing event coming to Flushing Town Hall on February 25th. It’s called Charcuterie Masters, and it’s being hosted by NY Epicurian Events Inc.

They are a Catskill Mountains-based producer of premiere farm-to-table food and wine festivals and educational programs. They pair the agricultural bounty (including grass-fed beef, organic produce, artisan cheeses, smoked fish, and wines from the region’s lush mountain valleys and fresh water streams) with New York City’s most innovative chefs and the culinary community.

Their goals include creating jobs, driving economic development by assisting family farmers and local artisans, and fostering culinary and agricultural tourism in the Catskill-Delaware New York City Watershed. This exposes everyone – from chefs to culinary professionals to foodies to gourmets – to delicious, fresh, sustainable and healthful foods.

From the ticketing page:

NY Epicurean Events & AgriForaging Food Safety – in collaboration with The Meat Market, Fire Roasted Catering, the Cheese & Dairy Society of NYS and The Salt Cured Pig – are proud to present the 2nd Annual Charcuterie Masters competition to be held at historic Flushing Town Hall on February 25, 2017.

Charcuterie Masters is the first ever competition of its kind and brings together more than 20 professional and amateur makers of artisanal charcuterie from across the U.S and Canada, including Rodrigo Duarte (Caseiro E Bom, Newark, N.J.); John Harkness (Prime Meats, Brooklyn, N.Y.); Chad Nelan (Elevation Charcuterie & Artisan Meats, Denver); Stewart Taylor (Babelfish Bistro, Guelph, Ontario, Canada); and Giuseppe Viterale (Ornella Trattoria, Astoria, N.Y.).

Charcuterie Masters 2017 is so much more than a national competition, it’s a celebration of Meaty Times where guests will be able to sample exquisite cured meats and salumi — including hams, bacons, pates, sausages and much more.

Participating chefs for Charcuterie Masters 2017 are:

  • Hugue Dufour (M. Wells Steakhouse)
  • Will Horowitz (Ducks Eatery, Harry & Ida’s Meat and Supply Co.)
  • Pitmaster Josh Bowen (John Brown Smokehouse)
  • Alfonso Zhicay (Casa del Chef Bistro)

Guests will have an opportunity to savor charcuterie, learn from the makers as well participate in a people’s choice vote of the ‘best-of-the-evening’ charcuterie. Pairings will include top-rated wines, craft beers, and farmstead ciders. Guests will also have the opportunity to purchase charcuterie directly at the event.

A $60 general admission ticket entitles guests to explore unlimited tasting and sampling of all food and beverages.

Additionally, there will be $100 VIP tickets sold, which will allow access to a special hour from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. enabling VIP guests to enjoy early access to the entire festival.

Maybe I’ll see some of you meat maniacs there!!!

Salumi

A recent trip to Italy renewed my interest in, and appreciation for, all things “sliced meaty.” I thought I’d seize the opportunity, capitalize on my rekindled passion for this delicious shit, and dive a fuckload deeper into the various types of salumi with a detailed-as-balls educational post for you assholes.

Check it out you savages. This was an actual street name in Trastevere, Rome:

In case you’re a complete dunce, that means “Street of Salumi.” I like to call it Meat Street, if you will, which is where I’m about to take your ass right now.

A photo posted by Johnny Prime (@johnnyprimecc) on

So just what exactly is salumi? Generally, it’s any food product made from pig meat (usually), especially cured meats, such as salami. That’s not super explicit, and some salumi even involve beef, but essentially we’re talking Italian pork-based “cold cuts” here.

One thing we all love is prosciutto. Prosciutto is a TRUE salume (singular of salumi), meaning it’s a whole cut of animal, usually a leg or shoulder. A leg gets hung to cure, and later it is sliced and eaten.

Then there are items that involve ground meat, like salami and salsicce (sausage). Salami are smoked, air dried or salted, and then left to age. Salsicce is either raw or cooked slightly, and is a kind of salame (singular of salami).

Okay so salumi, salami: is that like potayto, potahto? Nope. Salumi is more of an umbrella term. All salami are salumi, but not all salumi are salami. Get it? Of course you don’t, because it’s fucking confusing. You had to go back and read that twice, didn’t you? I did. Maybe a Venn Diagram will help illustrate the point better:

Okay so let’s ignore the umbrella salumi term, since it’s kind of useless for our purposes here. I’m going to give you some info about the two major types of Italian meats: true salumi and salami.

TRUE SALUMI

As mentioned earlier, these are cured meats that have been made from a whole cut of animal, usually a leg/thigh or shoulder.

Prosciutto

Prosciutto is a dry-cured leg o’ pig, and is probably the most common salume. These legs actually hang in Italian salumeria shops like decorations. It’s amazing.

Prosciutto crudo is the uncooked version, while prosciutto cotto is the cooked version.

For crudos, you’ll often see differences in the aging time based on the regions in Italy from which the ham hails. For example, Prosciutto di Parma is usually aged about 10-12 months, while San Daniele is 15-18 months. Some regions will age their hams longer, like 24 months, to impart different flavors, increase sweetness levels, etc.

As for prosciutto cotto, think of it like a traditional cooked ham.

Speck

Speck is a type of prosciutto that’s smoked (as well as dry-salted and aged), so it has a stronger, more unique flavor.

Capocollo

This salume is usually lightly seasoned with garlic, herbs, spices and wine, but the execution differs by region. The meat is then salted, stuffed into a natural casing, and hung for up to six months to cure. The meat itself is whole muscle from the neck and shoulder areas, so it is a salume despite being stuffed into a casing.

A photo posted by Johnny Prime (@johnnyprimecc) on

Fun side note: You may have seen capocollo spelled coppa, capicollo, capicola or capicolla. It’s even referred to as “gaba-gool” by NY/NJ area Italians and the show The Sopranos (or in this case, MadTV):

Pancetta

This is Italian pork belly (bacon). It’s usually cured and sometimes spiced. They slice it thin and eat it like cold cuts over in Italy. While technically not the same, you will often see pancetta swapped out with guanciale (pork cheek) or lardo (pure fat) in many Italian dishes that traditionally call for pancetta.

Bresaola

Bresaola is a cured, lean cut of beef, often times filet mignon.

You can see it here in my wife’s video from a salumi shop in Rome called La Prosciutteria, which I refer to as fucking heaven. There are a few selections of bresaola across the top right, immediately as the video begins:

A video posted by Katherine (@thecakedealer) on

Think of it like beef carpaccio, only salted, spiced and air dried rather than sliced raw.

A photo posted by Johnny Prime (@johnnyprimecc) on

Porchetta

While this may not necessarily be a salume, it is very often found in Salumeria shops throughout Italy. With that said, and the fact that this shit is delicious as fuck, I figured I’d mention it here.

Porchetta is a savory, fatty, and moist “pork roll.” It’s essentially a boneless pork roast whereby the pig is gutted, de-boned, arranged carefully with layers of stuffing, then rolled, wrapped in skin, and spit-roasted over a flame. Stuffing usually includes rosemary, fennel, garlic and other herbs, and porchetta is usually heavily salted.

It is typically served hot, cut thick, and eaten like a main course dish with a fork and knife. However it’s also common to see it sliced thinly after cooling. It’s then put into sandwiches or served on wooden meat board platters like the other salumi discussed above.

A photo posted by Johnny Prime (@johnnyprimecc) on

SALAMI

Okay, so a recap: Salami are ground meat, encased products that are smoked, air dried or salted, and then left to age.

If you’ve ever eaten an Italian hero, you’ve eaten some of these meats. Ingredients and parts can vary. In some cases you may even see non-pig versions, like venison or elk. In Venice, I even saw horse salami:

Regional Salami

Salami varies greatly by region. In some areas of Italy, the meat is finely ground with tiny flecks of fat visible.

Other regions use a more coarse grind, use larger chunks of fat, or add spices and herbs.

My favorite varieties are the ones in which truffles are added.

Salame Piccante

The pepperoncino pepper is a mildly spicy variety of chili pepper. That pepper is what makes a salame “piccante” (spicy), as it is mixed up into the grind when making salami piccante. In the US, salami piccante is typically called “pepperoni.” However, in Italian, the word “pepperoni” actually means “bell peppers.”

Soppressata

Soppressata also varies by region and exists in different sizes and shapes, but the spice level and red coloring are both universal traits. It is almost always more coarsely ground than salami.

All that said, one can still find varieties of soppressata that aren’t quite as “hot.” While these pictures show a thinner chub, the most common forms I have seen were thicker, like three or four inches in diameter (like a giant’s penis).

‘Nduja

This delicious shit generally comes from southern Italy. It’s an aged, spicy, spreadable salami “paste” that’s made from various parts of a pig. The spice levels are pretty hot in this product, and since it’s so soft, it is often spread onto bread like butter, or thrown into tomato-based sauces to kick them up a little bit.

Mortadella

This might be my favorite of the lot, and that’s a bonus for me, because it is usually the cheapest to buy in stores. The meat itself is similar to bologna in texture (in fact it IS bologna, since it hails from the town of Bologna). It’s extra finely ground (almost like it was processed by machine) heat-cured pork, which incorporates small cubes of pork lard.

I think mortadella is more smooth and soft than standard bologna here in the US, and it has a real porky flavor. Sometimes truffles, pistachios, olives and garlic are added for flavoring as well. Those are the best kinds. Also, lots of times these meats are formed into HUGE logs that are upwards of a foot in diameter.

Salsicce

Sausage party! The main difference here is mainly that, most times, salsicce is raw, uncured, or un-aged and needs to be cooked prior to eating. But some sausages are smoked and, thus, can be eaten as-is (like a hot dog or kielbasa).

So that about covers most of the common types of salumi you’ll see out there. I hope this information was helpful. If it wasn’t, then I should add that I don’t really give a fuck. Either way, go forth and eat this delicious meat. It will make you happy.

A.O.C. L’aile ou la Cuisse

I was recently invited to A.O.C. for a press meal. The menu looked pretty stacked, with lots of things I wanted to try, so I jumped at the opportunity to come here.

We sat outside in the back garden, which is beautiful, shaded and perfect for a spring/summer meal outdoors, especially with some colorful cocktails like these.

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We started with this amazing charcuterie and cheese board called Le Grand Mix. At $28 I felt that this was great. Usually these kinds of items are way overpriced to me, to the point of feeling like ass rape mixed with getting your balls stomped-on by stiletto heels. Here, however, it seemed very fair, if not actually a good deal. There were five sliced meats, a pair of duck confit crostini, three cheeses, some grapes, sliced apples and strawberries. There was even a small mixed greens salad beneath the apples!

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Prosciutto, country ham, smoked duck, mortadella, spicy salami, if I had to guess on the sliced meats. The cheeses were brie, gouda and a harder style like parmigiano reggiano.

For our meal, we shared the cote de boeuf rib eye steak for two.

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At $79 it comes with a bowl of mixed veggies and french fries. Great deal! The mixed veggies were all fresh, not frozen, and consisted of green beans, asparagus, broccoli and carrots. These had some basic seasonings like garlic and butter.

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The fries were thin shoe-string style, which I like. Some were very crisp, and some were half crisp. It was an interesting mix of textures, but the flavors were spot on and they were well-seasoned.

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The steak itself was overcooked, unfortunately. There was a bit too much grey going on for medium rare. The meat, as a result, was a little more dense and tough than I like, but it had good flavor otherwise, especially when dipped into the bernaise sauce that came with it (you can choose peppercorn as well, I think).

A video posted by Katherine (@thecakedealer) on

Here’s a closer shot of the steak. I boosted the reds a bit in Photoshop on both images, because I couldn’t help myself and I wanted it to look nice for the Instagram post.

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I’m giving this a 6/10 instead of a 5 or 4, because ultimately this is a wonderful deal and the only real issue was the cooking temperature. I would definitely come back here and order this again, so don’t get the wrong idea. Compared with other steak-for-two deals that often times don’t come with sides, are smaller, and cost much more money, this is a steal. Just make sure you insist on rare.

For dessert we tried the tarte tartin. I wasn’t expecting pie format for this, since it was described as an apple turnover on the menu. But the apple flavor was very natural and not overly sweet. The crust, however, fell short and was a bit gummy. Ultimately it just lacked character, and tasted more like a thick apple sauce than a pie or tart.

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My overall recommendation: Definitely get the charcuterie and cheese boards, and if you want to order steak, go for it but just be mindful of the cook temperature. The hanger looks great, and I’m sure the entrecote shell steak is nice too, traditional steak frites style. The mussels look amazing as well. I wish we had room in our guts to try more stuff, especially those.

A.O.C. L’AILE OU LA CUISSE
314 Bleecker St
New York, NY 10014

The Back Room at One57

NOTE: THIS JOINT IS NOW CLOSED

NYC restaurant week now includes this joint at the One57 building on Billionaire’s Row, “The Back Room.” They offer a really great menu. The decor is beautiful and vast. It’s a huge place. Tables are wide and spacious. Very different from the usual situation in NYC.

The onion bread with garlic and herb cream cheese is a delicious way to start the meal here:

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We also sipped on some really excellent cocktails.

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The charcuterie board had five different styles of cured meat with some pickled items. I thought this was really generous. The quality of these meats was top notch, too. Coppa, cacciatorini, fennel sausage, soppressata, spicy nduja, lardon. The fat content was so soft and sticky that it was clinging to the bottom of my tongue like peanut butter. So good.

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We also had the reginetti pasta, which are like little squiggly brain shapes that hold the sauce nicely in the convolutions.

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For our main courses we went with the beef cheek and the quail. The beef cheek was braised in red wine to a perfect tenderness that still retained a nice juicy inside. It was served on a parsnip and rutabaga puree, and topped with crispy onions and a red onion jam.

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My wife’s quail dish was nicely cooked and had good flavor, but it was slightly gamey. The quail was in no way bad. It just didn’t hit the same high mark as the beef.

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Dessert was pretty great. Maybe restaurants in NYC are finally understanding that people want to see something different than tiramisu, creme brûlée, chocolate cake and fucking flan. First up was this cocoa toffee pudding with brulee’d bananas, salty cocoa nibs and malted coconut ice cream. Excellent.

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We also had the meyer lemon zabaglione with whipped tea, lemon confit and earl grey ice cream. Very inventive and unique, and a nice bright way to end a meal.

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The waiter, Ivan, was great. He even brought over a candle and complimentary glass of honeyed dessert wine for my wife since they knew it was her birthday (was mentioned on the Open Table reservation).

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On a second visit I tried their two-course lunch for $32, along with a taste of a few other things that the rest of the table had.

First was this delicious grilled octopus.

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The texture was perfect. While the chimichurri-esque green sauce was a bit bland, I did like it a lot with the octopus, and even with the table bread as well.

I went with the skirt steak for my main course.

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The dollop of garlic butter on top really added a great flavor and creaminess to the cut. It was perfectly cooked to medium rare.

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While the steak itself was a bit small, it did pack a ton of flavor. 8/10.

Here’s a look at the lobster roll on the lunch menu. I think it could use a bit more quality, large chunks of claw meat. The bread was solid, but I’ve had better lobster rolls elsewhere.

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The duck leg confit was brilliant. So tender and juicy, and beautifully plated as well.

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And speaking of beautiful plating, this bowl of fried oyster mushrooms with lemon are served with an edible chive blossom.

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For dessert we sampled a trio of eclairs and a chocolate espresso cake, which was super soft, smooth and decadent. The texture was more like soft fudge or a thick custardy pudding.

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Of the three eclairs, I liked the pink and red one the best. All three had great creamy fillings and were beautiful as well as tasty.

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THE BACK ROOM AT ONE57
157 W. 57th St.
New York, NY 10019

Charlito’s Cocina

Since I had a credit with Carnivore Club, I ordered a regular box. The quality is once again incredible. Take a look at the unboxing below. This time I had four sausage items from Charlito’s Cocina:

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Inside, there is a card that tells you all about the meats you are about to eat, along with suggested pairings like cheeses.

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Here’s what they look like unwrapped – like shriveled penises:

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While a shriveled penis is admittedly not the greatest look in the world, I’m pretty certain that these taste much better than a shriveled penis. If any of you have had both, give me your opinions.

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So as I was going over my note card along with my packaged meats, I noticed something. The “salami picante,” #4 on the note card, was swapped out for “campo seco.” It seems the provider ran out of the salami picante and substituted the campo seco instead, but Carnivore Club was unaware and unable to update the note card in time for the shipment.

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No bother to me, really, other than the fact that campo seco and cerveza seca were somewhat similar in both look and flavor. Cerveza seca was a bit leaner, however, while campo seco had large blobs of delicious fatty white spots throughout – most of which were surprisingly tender.

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The chorizo was good. Not too potent and garlicky, as some can be, and it had a mild heat to it that didn’t overpower.

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The clear winner by far, however, was the “trufa seca” truffle sausage. It was coated with a sea salt and was vibrantly flavored with that earthy and robust truffle flavor. Absolutely delicious. I’ve never tasted something so unique in this kind of product.

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I highly recommend purchasing meat from this supplier, Charlito’s Cocina. And if it isn’t obvious, I am a big fan of Carnivore Club. This box alone would cost WAY more if all items were purchased separately, so you’re getting a good deal along with such great service. I let Carnivore Club know about the swapped sausage issue for #4, and they, along with Charlito’s, insisted on sending me the salami picante even over my protestations. Good people!

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So after keeping a close eye on this supplier, I noticed they set up shop at the Union Square Holiday Market (I am always stalking their Instagram feed) for the 2015 Christmas season.

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I went down after I was all out of their delicious sausages and picked up three packages of trufa seca. While I was down there I got to meet the owner and founder, Charles (left). He threw in a package of chorizo for me to sample!!! I am really excited to bring this sausage out to my folks for Thanksgiving!

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