cinghiale

I use Real Seed from Wales. Terrific heirloom varieties, everything open-pollinated. However, they don't ship to the U.S., recommending Seed Savers Exchange. I've not used the latter company, but their products look quite interesting. I also second the upthread recommendation for Victory Seed, out of Oregon. After my order was held up at Italian customs and ultimately returned, I ended up smuggling them in with me following a trip to the U.S. this June. Since these were planted late, nothing yet to report on results. I ordered all my herbs from Richters Herbs in Canada. Those seeds, too, are sitting in Italian customs for the second time. I hope to have them cleared in time for the 2010 planting.

There's a pretty good pasta primer sitting right now at the top of the other subboard to this forum.

Hijacking this thread a wee bit, as it has been an inspiration for me for "what does Philly have that NYC doesn't have that Italy doesn't have a'tall." Answer to the latter part of the query: tons. I'm in town for a few days and want to test the assertions, particularly since I'm on a budget: Day 1: went to T-Mobile to have them attempt to remedy the deletion of my prepaid minutes. Silly me: show up at 8:45, but CC doesn't open until 10. Headed up to La Colombe. Ok, at home I have daily access to more or less well-made espresso etc., but the Italians don't make a decent CUP of coffee. And this for me is a real shortcoming. What better to remedy my longing than getting the best there is (flat-out trumps all would-be competitors, including in NYC)? My first sip elicited from me that sound that you hear like when someone eats a rich chocolate dessert. There is no written word for it: it's the grunt of the body hit. That's what came forth unprompted. I always bought LC beans while living here, but I never had their brewed version. Went back later in the day and got an iced coffee (plus 1 each from the Chapter House and the Bean Exchange in the BV). Just loving the coffee here. ($1.50/cup (to go size) at LC, beating the price of pretty much every other pedestrian coffee shop in the city). Try getting a pastry beforehand from Miel 2 blocks away on 17th Street and then head to Rittenhouse Square to people watch. While waiting for T-Mobile to open, thought of trying to get a cheeseburger at Snow White (sliders), but the griddle was full of breakfast. Checked out my fav chain Five Guys (also available in NYC), and "NYC's Best Burger" (give me a break) Goodburger, a location of which is just west of 5G on Chestnut, but both don't open till 11. Noticed that Le Bec Fin (tradition-wrought old-school French) is offering lunch downstairs for $15.23 (I believe that'd be their address). OK, if I (perish the thought) skip the wine, that'd be ca. $20 incl. t/t. Not a bad deal. Susanna Foo (Asian-French) still looks open. Brasserie Perrier (much better available in NYC) shuttered as otherwise noted here. What up with Alma de Cuba (not sure if this fits in the Philly/NYC dynamic)? Anyone eaten there recently? I've only been once, on a Philly Restaurant Week visit, and it wasn't memorable. How do they hold out against the influx of Armani eXchange and what not? After getting the T-Mobile guys to hook me up (next to Butcher & Singer), headed straight to the Terminal and DiNics (roast pork sandwich). Passed APJ (Texas wieners) on the walk over and had to restrain myself. DiNic's RPI was Jesus Christmas so good (no BR today, but spinach, which was really really spicy & garlicky) ($8.25 w/ two toppings, tax included). Took Holly's suggestion and got (just one) Famous 4th Street Cookie. Stopped off outside the Terminal to get the Chinatown bus schedule and peeked into the for me usually underwhelming offerings of the otherwise highly praised dim sum joint next door (IMO outweighed by the offerings at the NYC end of the bus line) in anticipation of next week's bus ride. Drinks with my mixologist/chef friend Bruce at his place: Blue Coat (Philly distillery, now making vodka and absinthe, I understand) fizzes. Then onward for a margarita ($4.00) at Los Caballitos (refined yet still peasant Mexican). I was intrigued by the cheeseburger camilita on the board ($11), still available (as was the entire menu) at 11:30 on a Wednesday night, but couldn't quite make out the description from the harried but quite charming bartendress. Opted instead to ride my bike down 9th Street to Taquitos de Puebla (straight-up peasant cooking) and get some al pastor (3 for $6). You know, I've eaten there now and then since they opened, and I don't share the enthusiasm. It was and still is the strange orange that draws me in, plus they keep really good hours. Service couldn't be more pleasant. But the pork is just plain bland. I chatted with the cooks about how they make their carnitas (available only Saturdays), and it seems just wrong: 1-2 hour braise. If that's the general approach there, they'll never get any flavor in the pork. I'm gonna try to follow the other recs on this thread over the next few days and hope to post accordingly.

I'm not getting the "pop" thing, which was why I asked. You test Mason jars like that, but if they go "pop" after they're cool, then the lid didn't set. I was at a friend's house, and she was making cherry and apricot jams, using the same kind of jars, plus various collected commercial jam jars. She boiled the jars and lids, filled with hot jam, and flipped 'em upside down on the counter to set, just like k-tree describes. But she didn't process after filling/sealing the jars. She was also about to start making -- what's the Italian name? -- elderberry jam. It was growing all over her property. She was were talking about how you can fry the flowers or or make wine with them (just like Elton John says). She also had some homemade laurel liquor, made using (diluted) 95% alcohol (certaintly can't get that in the U.S.).

I've got on the order of 40 old-growth cherry trees (read: 50 feet, not yr standard orchard tree). It's that time of year, and I'm trying to preserve the fruit (the low-hanging stuff that I can reach, anyway). The consorzi (ag coops), as well as the supermarkets here all seem to sell a really shitty canning arrangement: glass jar (duh) + integrated cap. I'm worried that it's faulty. Here's why: Last summer in the U.S., I processed 500 lb. of tomatoes using Mason jars. When the jars went into the water bath, they happily gave up their air, tiny bubbles nesting around the jars. My understanding is that you need to drive out the air and create an anaerobic environment. The product held A1 over time. With the Italian jars, I see niente on the bubble front. I'm wondering if they're working. You can't even really screw the lids down hard, like with a Mason or Ball jar. It's a quarter turn at most, then basta. I'm sterlizing the jars and then throwing the lids in for a couple of minutes to soften the ring. I'm doing hot pack for pitted cherries (fyi: 1.5 kg cleaned cherries yields 3 250-ml jars: saints preserve us!) and cold pack for whole cherries. The cold pack's already looking suspect. Anyone had any experience with Italian jars?

Certo! I nominate Katie Loeb to write the wiki entry for Roast Pork Italiano. In that regard, if you google "roast pork sandwich", the 6of the first 10 hits are Philly-related, with Tony Luke's at the top. Coming at No. 7: HollyEats.com.

The porchetta trucks here all seem to serve their sandwiches the same way: (i) a fair amount of the somewhat dry, less flavorful outside portion of the roast, (ii) a lesser amount of the succulent, spicy, fatty interior portion of the roast, and (iii) skin. You can ask for more of the skin. I always do.

C'mon peeps: Philly RPI: apple Porchetta: orange Cuban sandwich: lime Mufaletta: peach Carolina bbq: dunno, vinegar fruit "Awesome roast pork sandwich" is too broad, like "awesome Asian food" or "awesome fish preparations" or awesome whatevah. There is nothing in this world that is equivalent (or IMO compares) to a sandwich composed of Philly-style roast pork, BR and provolone. The end.

Agreed. Porchetta can be great, but comparing it to a Philly RPI is like comparing beef on weck to a cheesesteak.

Buford, Heat.I try to live by this mantra/rant.

I guess I'm just not getting how the a scold who says, "You can choose to have your expensive shoes, your nightly DVD rental, your [insert other not-thought-through income-/environment-wasting expenses] and -- since corners must be cut in your home budget -- sacrifice food for that, or you can redirect some of that limited income to better sustenance," has an objectionable message.I think it's wonderful that someone's gone on record as calling out those non-judgmental types who speak no ill of others at whatever cost.

Is Picnick still going? After hunting around Battery Park a bit in late fall of 2007, I was able to find it, but it looked rather abandoned.

Cool: Cured in wood. Gives me the same. Little chance that I'll make it to the sagra in August, but it's mosdef on my radar now. Thanks for that, tupac.

Lardo di colonnata: Your standard "brick" style, meant to be sliced very thinly. The curing process is not unlike, say, guanciale. See here (unfortunately, no photos of the beautiful marble tubs). Lardo macellato: I believe this is fresh lard, only lightly salted and spiced. I tried some at home on a cracker, and it overwhelmed the taste of the lard. Unsalted bread works best (apologies to the salted bread camp on this thread). Pestàt: According to the information I picked up: See also this Slow Food page (in Italian).

I made it this weekend to the Distinti Salumi festival in Cagli. Had I been more aware of its breadth, I would have posted an alert. In addition to the multitude of vendors, there were talks, exhibits, and related events. There were also four tasting rooms set up, one each for salumi interi, cotti, crudi and particolari. Great handouts and signage. It was just a really well done festival. There was an unbelievable bounty. I took home lots of fat – a creamy lardo macellato from Lecce, herby pestàt from Fagagna in Friuli, and a beautiful piece of lardo di colonnata from, well, Colonnata (so now I know that Colonnata is a place, not a style -- I usually see it without the "di"; the vendor had a great book showing the traditional vessels used to make the lardo). Plus a nice hunk of guanciale from a local Cagli producer, lamb salame from Holland, and a spicy, chunky bad boy from Abruzzo. Diverse selection of cheeses (mostly pecorino), too. I bought a piece of delicious pecorino trombaitolo, which the Puglian vendor had enticingly labelled the "viagra di una volta". Also various grilled meats. I had some very slow-cooked cinta senese from a local farmer that was unbelievable: just about the opposite of porchetta, it was soft as butter and virtually unspiced. Berkel had a display of restored slicers from the early 1900s. And then there was the exhibit "Women and Pigs". If only the photographer would have found a way to include my other two food groups: cigarettes and gin . . . (glossy format made for fuzzy pix). Cagli's a picturesque town, and the surrounding countryside is beautiful. It's worth the trip. I'll try to remember to post a reminder for next year's fest.

Those sound like precursors of a "third way" plan to me. ← No, not a precursor, but rather inclined to doubt, no dismiss arguments of those supportive of anti-factory farming.

There's this:

I second that. Status quo ante does not mean that there aren't alternatives worthy of exploration. McWilliams and his followers here dismiss out of hand the viability of seeking a Third Way.

That same statement (from McWilliams, who has been attacked ad hominem but not refuted, because most of what he says is irrefutable) Blanket assertion with no proof. I'm not about to read McWilliams, since I don't find him to be credible. Still, what part of the world is "most"? If it works in the non-most part, can it be adapted for the most part? IF not, why? What is "exclusively"? Sure, I can't grow my own coffee and chocolate beans. Is that what is meant?This is the second time you have asserted that McWilliams has been criticized ad hominem, and that assertion is unwarranted. The criticism of Waters has been much more in that vein, if you ask me.

Here.Bloggers and others were quick to note: Five days after publication of McWilliams's piece, the Times appended this editors note: McWilliams responded, admitting he "may have erred" on the seropathogen issue, on The Atlantic. IMO, he lacks the credentials to discuss with any authority the matters cited upthread. To bring this back OT, how can anyone who claims with the straightest of faces that "locavores are endangering the future of food" be taken seriously?

You raised the issue of cost. Oil and food products both are cheaper -- and undoubtedly have a lower energy and enviromental impact -- when imported than when obtained it in the U.S. In both cases, cost seems to be driving the reluctance to explore other avenues of providing for sufficiency. Those who argue that cheaper means better have not learned from the past and are damned to repeat it. I thought we were talking about Vermont or Iowa or New Orleans. Or does the citation merely help assuage any concern about our eating cheap, imported lamb? Jeez, absolutists. Real problem-solvers, they. But maybe one could read the "awareness" as meaning that once oil-based transport gets untenable, McWilliams's argument is no longer valid.

Just like oil. Under "conventional wisdom".

How much does it cost per [barrel] versus [oil] from [OPEC]? Is there enough of it to replace all [oil] from [OPEC]? Would the environmental and energy impacts of producing enough [oil] in [the U.S.] to supply all of [the U.S.'s] [oil] demand be greater or less than the impacts of producing it in [OPEC countries] and shipping it in?Self-sufficiency is the mother of invention. It would drive down the carbon footprint and more than likely lead to better school lunches in Rapid City and elsewhere. The U.S. birthright to the cheapest possible everything from whatever source at whatever time is unsupportable.

Truth Commission.While in the Market, there's also Bitar's. And for hoagies, I'll put my two cents in for Chickie's, just west of 10th Street on Federal.

The atmosphere is decidedly pleasant, and the staff could not have been friendlier. Nor the patrons, it seems: we chatted with the neighboring table over digestivi, and it ended with an invitation to dinner at their home in Trastevere. I had to depart this AM for home, but my gf and her visiting, otherwise jaded Brooklynite brother et al are going.As for the spaghetti, I regularly thin my sauce with cooking water, and I've never had a problem with sauce not adhering to the pasta and instead collecting in the bottom of the plate. I found the noodles to be pre-al dente; perhaps they weren't soft enough to absorb the sauce.