Cured Meat Heaven

As a child, I was not exposed to anything like traditional Italian, whether it be antipasti or real homemade pasta. It was however, my first food love (see my first post), and the first food that I attempted to cook. Granted, my culinary skills have developed extensively since my first attempt at Fettuccine Carbonara in the early-90s, and I can make a mean Marinara or even some lovely stuff from the Silver Spoon cookbook. However, my skills are nothing compared to the skill required to make the king of all antipasti, the beautiful, delicious, salty, fatty, fantastic cured meats that are among the best things that a great Italian meal can offer.

One of my favorite local joints here in Washington, DC for really good Italian antipasti is 2 Amy's. I have a weakness for their woodfired pizza, but on Saturday afternoon it was all about the antipasti. They have a truly remarkable collection, from cannellini beans with grated botarga, to three different kinds of salted anchovies in olive oil, or a wonderful selection of olives. However, my personal favorite is their "grande piatto di salume:"

This cured meat lover's dream includes: proscuitto san daniele, proscuitto americano la quercia, jamon di serrano, speck, bresaola, boar cacciatorini, lardo, capicola, and lomo. It is a ridiculous quantity of lovely cured meats, but well worth the fat content. Each meat has a unique texture and flavor, from the salty gaminess of the boar cacciatorini, to the silky soft and luscious lardo, no two bites are the same. Paired with ample quantities of good Italian red wine (in this case a 2005 De Angelis Lacrima Christi del Vesuvio from Campania), our meal was a three hour feast not to be soon forgotten.

An Effort to Satisfy My Food Obsession

I never thought I'd be one of those people that would be so obsessed with food that I felt the need to write ad-nauseum about my food experiences, my food cooking, or my food eating. However, given how much I do love to cook, dine out, and most especially eat, I realized I needed an outlet to keep track of all the wonderful experiences I have had over the years.

A little about your humble writer before I really get going if I may.

I grew up in a beach town in the Southwest, San Diego specifically, and though I always knew I loved food, I never really had an outlet due to lack of audience and funds. I got my first cookbook in Jr. High School, "The Frugal Gourmet Cooks Italian," and experimented whenever I could. Unfortunately, my dad wasn't as crazy over Italian as I was, so, often I would cook two versions of meals - one that I wanted to eat and one that he wanted to eat. It helped me to learn 1) how to prep quickly so I wouldn't be cooking forever; and 2) how to modify spices and ingredients to keep the core ideas yet change the flavor profile. I was blessed with an amazing Grandmother, who taught me how to cook the really good (bad-for-you) stuff: bratwurst & sauerkraut, the best turkey stuffing on the face of the planet, and killer lemon meringue pie. And then there was my Aunt, the only real cook in the family, who indulged me in my food-love by taking me to good restaurants, cooking excellent food (and showing me how she did it), and generally encouraging my obsession.

I guess the real turn-around came when I went off to college in Minnesota and was faced with the unholy dining hall hot-dishes (Minnesotan for casserole), meatloafs, and green eggs (no kidding...I guess the powdered egg mix they used oxidized green). I got married, moved off campus, and have been lucky enough to have the most amazing husband in the world who would try anything I put in front of him, even if he had never seen anything like it before. We were poor, but I still managed to start cooking Chinese, Thai, Mexican, and the ever-present Italian.

So that is where I started, with a bunch of dining out, traveling overseas, and shamelessly stealing ideas wherever I could. Now I'm starting this blog so that I can keep track of some of the wonderful places I am privileged to dine at, some of the decent meals that I manage to cook, and, since I'm about to go to China and Japan for a bit (see my other blog), some of the weird stuff I encounter.

Feel free to share your experiences, share tips, and comments! Food is an art, a dialogue, and fun, so I look forward to talking with all of you.