Houston - Charcuterie

[Jaymes]

Charcuterie has recently been the subject of much of Houston's culinary scene chitchat.  And several of us Houstonions have been gathering from time to time to sample this dish and that.  Houston, the fourth-largest city in the US, is a great place for it.  It's an immigrant city that has been called "the nation's most diverse."  There's always something new and interesting to try.

 

So next up for our small but enthusiastic group is charcuterie.  We've done some research online at sites like this one: 

 

http://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2014/2/2/houstons-top-charcuterie-destinations-february-2014

 

If you'd like to join us for this next gathering, or sometime in the future, pm me.

 

 

 

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[brucesw]

I checked out Revival Market's Cured Plate Monday.  It was my first visit since they morphed from being a meat market/market that had counter service sandwiches and some plates into a full service restaurant that also has a butcher shop and a few other market items.  The place was very sparsely populated compared to every other visit I've made.

 

 

Counter-clockwise from the lower left:  spiced honey whipped lardo, Coppa, Pepperone, Head Cheese, pecans and peanuts, chicharrone, bread, salami (underneath the chicharrone and bread), sour cucumber, and, in the center, buttermilk ricotta.

 

I'll say upfront the Coppa made little impression on me.  I think it just kind of got lost with all the other things I was tasting.  Basically everything was great except for the pecans which were soft and flavorless.  The pepperone was cold and hard at first but by the time I worked my way thru the whole platter, which took about 40 minutes, it had warmed up to room temp and was much more enjoyable.  My two favorite items were the pepperone and the salame, which I never got a picture of.

 

I had browsed the meat cases while waiting and was aware there are at least 4 varieties of salame and pepperone but the waiter could not tell me which ones I got.  I went back up to look again on the way out and the two most likely suspects were both missing any identifying signs.  I didn't want to linger and try to get a butcher's attention; I was having diner's remorse from having eaten too much and was ready to go.

 

The chicharrone were quite greasy.  My shirt went right into the laundry when I got home.  Next time I'll tuck the starched linen napkin into my collar.

 

The article linked above says Revival makes all their own cured meats and that's what the website claims but the waiter only said 'house-made' when pointing out the Coppa and I noticed only a handful of meats displayed were identified as house-made, for some reason.

 

Website

Edited October 14, 2015 by brucesw (log)

[Jaymes]

Bruce - your reports are a thing of beauty.  Thanks for taking the time to post this.

 

As you know, I'm planning on meeting friends at Coltivare soon for their charuterie plate.  I'll try to post opinions, but it will be nowhere nearly so thorough as yours.

 

Charcuterie, the Dish of the Month for our Houston group is a personal favorite and I'm going to do my best to try several places, a la Bruce, but, living out in Suburbia, it's kinda difficult.  Guess I could just go get a sampler plate at the deli counter at my local HEB.

 

Actually, now that I think about it, that's not a half-bad idea. 

 

Maybe I'll do that very thing.

[brucesw]

Ha-ha. You have a much nicer HEB out where you are than I have.  I'll look forward to that report.

 

I'll see you at Coltivare and I'm counting on you to answer some questions and offer some explanations --- you have more experience with this than I do.