Found this box of loveliness sitting at my front door. True to his word, Larbo made good on his promise. http://www.thislittlepiggy.us/2009/10/01/a-tale-of-two-boxes/ He asked me to ship some products which are difficult to find in most places. I had obliged. In return, I was to receive as payment an array of cured meats. You can see the HUGE vacuum sheet of pancetta(too much!). Along with a sample of his cocoa bacon, a nice generous package of pepper bacon. He also sent me some fresh mortadella(I must admit, I mowed through it in 2 days), as well as some pate'. He also included some BBQ pork shoulder fat and juices for exploratory purposes.
I destroyed that pepper bacon, I ate it every which way you could imagine. Even included it in a short rib braise. It is the best LOOKING bacon I've seen. Doesn't taste too bad either. ;) The cocoa bacon was surprising in that it had a hint of pleasant sweetness in the background that interfered with neither the smoke nor that rich, pork flavor. The mortadella is absolutely RIDICULOUS! Awesome, Larbo. I ate it by itself, cut it right out of the package. I've not yet gotten to the pate', as I'd like to include it in a hamburger patty as described by Larbo. As far as the pancetta, well, honestly, I enjoy looking at it too much to actually break open it's packaging. I may use it to wrap around a pork loin roast tonight! Larbo, I'm open for trade any time you like. As far as I'm concerned, you got robbed!
Larbo's great - he brought me supplies to the UK when visiting.
ReplyDeletePhil
Things like this are what makes the internet great.
ReplyDeleteJon
Thanks for the kind words, guys! I'm glad you feel like you got the better part of the deal, Scott, because I'm definitely going to hit you up for some more of the Calabrian peppers, both the concentrate and the dried. Having used them every which way, they are new pantry staples in my house!
ReplyDeleteAs Jon says, all this mutual assistance is a great thing that the internet has made possible. Find other people who share your passions and help each other out. I was glad to help Phil out, but getting to meet the man behind the meat and the blog, even ever so briefly, was a real treat!
So glad you liked the Mortadella, Scott. I love, Love, LOVE it, but I can't hardly get anyone around here excited about "baloney." So it's great to be able to share some with a fellow meathead who really appreciates it! Often just knowing that there's one other person out there who values what we've done is enough to keep us going.