Ahhhh….a Friday night Food and Drink Thread, my favorite! I forgot about the meal that you see in the picture. This was a Sunday brunch for two last summer. It was sort of an old school fusion of Russian, Spanish, Italian, and French favorites. Now mind you, the salt content was astronomical, so take your high blood pressure meds and drink plenty of water before reading any further…we’ll wait for you.
In the mean time, two items ‘0f note’
FIRST! Congrats to Rose and the gang at Table 9 Chat! Drop buy and tell ’em Happy Anniversary!
This Friday Table 9 is TWO – two years ago we were all getting banned at LGF, we opened our own version of the famed “LIzard Lounge” on April 1 – it took us a while to find everyone, mostly by getting in touch through various blogs, but we’ve been going strong for two years now. Stop in and say HI, busiest in the evening! http://table9chat.com.
Rose
SECOND! We will be down from 2200-2215 Eastern or so for server upgrade.
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OK, so let’s get into what is presented for the brunch. First, everything you see was purchased at the Sunseri Brothers Pennsylvania Macaroni Company, in the Strip District of Pittsburgh (unless otherwise noted). From the Pennsylvania Macaroni website: “In the very rich tradition village of Trabia, Sicily, there were 3 brothers of the proud, hard working Sunseri family that envisioned the dream of bringing their goals and admirable work ethic to America. In 1902, Augustino, Salvatore and Michael Sunseri formed the company that is now known as the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company. It was not easy. It never is. They started out by manufacturing pasta. After going through the normal growing pains of starting out, things started looking up. Then, a devastating fire that would have knocked the life and determination out of many did not stop the Sunseri’s. With incredible guts and will, they rebuilt and soon the pasta manufacturing blossomed into olive oil and spice retailing along with offering specialty food products and cheeses. The nucleus was formed and in the late 1940’s, Augustino’s sons, Robert (Uncle Bob) and Salvatore took the reins and it was at this point that phenomenal success could be seen developing.”
For us, PennMac is the anchor of the Strip as is Wholey’s Fish Market (there will be another thread on that place later). PennMac still has the old tongue in groove pine floors that creak as you walk on them, the cheese and Italian deli meat section is second to none, they sell 200,000 pounds of cheese a week and will ship to you! (Blogmocaracy has no relation with said Italian Grocers) Other items are listed in their website above.
In the small white bowls on the top of the photo are horseradish (fresh picked from the back yard and shredded by hand) and Spanish E.V. Olive oil with some fresh ground pepper. I prefer the Spanish version in this case as it has a fruitier and nuttier flavor and is faster off the pallet then the Italian E.V. Below the condiments is home made French style baguette made by yours truly; flour, yeast, water, salt and butter makes the perfect baguette!
On to the meat plate: That large dry sausage is a Daniele Natural Casing Hot Sopressata. Yes, that white on the outside is mold, no you do not eat the mold or the casing; this sausage is one of the best out there, a peppered salami with the texture of steak. Continuing clockwise, at the 2’oclock position is a standard Cherizo, spicier than the Sopressata but it lacks the texture that the air dried sausage has. Next on plate is Speck, Speck is a smoked Prosciutto, or: “Speck is an Italian cured meat made from a boned pork leg, it is cured in salt and spiced. Then the meat is slow-smoked, using pine or juniper wood for several months. Speck is deep red in color and usually sliced very thin for an appetizer.”
The first cheese at the 5 o’clock position is a German stinky cheese, Tilset, akin to a mild Limburger, the Tilset with some horseradish on bread is quite the flavor! The next cheese is Zamurano: “One of Spain’s most famous cheeses. A traditional farmhouse sheeps milk cheese, from the Churra breed. A sweet natural rind that is very crisp and clean to the palate. Excellent with bold wines.” And it was!
Now to the best of the meats, Prosciutto. “Prosciutto di San Daniele is a cured Italian meat from the region of Udine. Prosciutto di San Daniele is ham that has been seasoned with salt.The ham is then dried and aged for a minimum of 12 months.” Prosciutto, for me, is the pinnacle of cured meat the texture and sublime salt and hamporkiness are just fantastic, the fat melts when you handle it. The perfect food!
That plate to the left contains Agostino Recca Anchovies from Sicily, these are the best anchovies I have come across yet. Salty with a texture like butter. Either you love anchovies or you don’t. If you don’t, good, that means more for me and Mrs Coldwarrior. Beside the anchovies is Kosher Salmon Caviar (purchased elsehwere), these are not as salty as expected with a sweet, almost honey-like finish. These are delicate enough that one should start the ‘snaking’ with the kaviar, on sliced baguette and just a bit of butter.
Of course, fresh ground white/black pepper from an Atlas grinder and a glass of broad shouldered Aussie red, The Big Purple Bruiser, Rosemount Estate Show Reserve: “The International Wine Cellar 90 points: ‘Ruby-red. Smoky blackcurrant, cherry-vanilla, cola and pungent herbs on the nose. Broad and fleshy, offering deep dark berry flavors and good tannic grip. More structured and serious than the GSM, finishing with good lift and cut and notes of anise and vanilla. This would be great with a piece of grilled lamb.’ Sep 2008″. Why mention the brand of grinder, well Atlas has a lifetime guarantee. I like anything that has a ‘Zippo’ warranty.
The food here has to have a big wine, or a good Imperial Stout.
Needles to say to the Foodies here, this sort of brunch is not for everyone, I wouldn’t serve this to anyone that isn’t a close friend or family that i know likes these offerings; the Tilset will knock your socks off. The above was for Mrs Coldwarrior, myself, and the Puti on a nice summer day. With that in mind, why not try a baguette with a Sopresatta and a glass of a bold red?
And, FOODIES: why not give us a guest post and we will put it up and you can be the chef for the day? I would like to start a regular FOODIE section on the blog.
Good Evening For Now,
Coldwarrior,
Executive Chef, Blogmocracy.
butter….mmmmm, amish butter. 😆
.
Tags: Food and Drink, pennmac, pennsylvania macaroni, prosciutto, rosemount estate, sunseri brothers, zamurano
