79
celebratedliving.com
fall 2009
LEFT:courTEsy sprucE;righTcLockwisE From Top LEFT:courTEsy Frasca FoodandwinE; Lara kasTnEr/sEpia; arTisanaL; L20
Charcuterie
Givenpork’sneweminence, it’shardly surprising tofind
charcuterie—anumbrella term Iwill use forall sausag-
es, salamis, pâtés, andother cookedor curedmeats
served coldandhot— showingupeverywhere.Which is
surprising since charcuteriehas largelybeenaEuropean
artisanal tradition, from thebeautiful terrinesand
pâtés
encroûte
offranceand theprosciuttoand
salsicce
of Italy,
to thewursts of Germany and the cured kielbasas of
Poland. Thoughonce thought of asbistro, trattoria, or
rathskeller fare, charcuteriehasalwaysbeenon the lustier
sideof cuisine. But nowamerican chefshave taken it off
the sideboardandput it center stage.Oneof thepioneers
wasstarchefMarioBatali,who featured Italiancharcuterie
at the
Lupa
trattoria inGreenwichVillage. His father,
armandinoBatali, isoneof thebest-knownpractitioners
of charcuterie fromhisdaysat SalumiartisanCured
Meats inSeattle. Chefseither contract tohave their char-
cuteriemadeor, increasingly,make it themselves.Youare
as likely toget amarvelousarrayof slicedmeatsat anew
place like
Sepia
inChicagoasyouareat
FrascaFood
andWine
inBoulder, Colorado,which specializes in the
foodsof Italy’sfriuli-VeneziaGiulia region.
Cheese Service
Theserviceof cheeseasacoursehasalwaysbeenpartof
themeal inmuchofEurope, oftenwithanarrayof 20or
moregoat’s, sheep’s, andcow’smilkvarietiesdisplayed
andservedwithbreadsandcondiments.Tenyearsagoyou
wouldhavebeen lucky tofindmore thanadozen restau-
rants in the entireU.S. withmore than a rudimentary
offeringof predictablecheeses.Now, it is rare thatanew
restaurant does
not
have a selection of fine, perfectly
ripenedcheeses,manyof them from local dairies.Back in
1985, the then 2-year-oldamericanCheese Society
competitiondrew30cheesemakersand89cheeses; in2007
theSocietyhadmore than1,400membersand1,208entries
at thecompetition.and, likeall ideasamericansembrace,
some restaurateurshave taken cheese service toanew
level:at
Artisanal
inNewYork, chef-ownerTerrance
Brennan features up to 200 selections, depending on
the season.
Raw Food
Oneof theverybrief fadsof the last decadewas to serve
uncooked, orbarely cooked, vegetables, but fewpeople
caredmuch for the chewingand chewingandmore chew-
ingof someprettydull preparations.On theotherhand,
sushi and sashimi havebecomeamazinglypopularwith
thewholeworld, so that there is rarelya shopping center
that doesn’t havea sushi eatery in it, and sushi barsare
aspacked inlondonandCancunas theyare inTokyoand
Osaka. But the real trend right now ishow chefsof differ-
ent food cultureshaveadapted rawfish, and, toanextent,
rawmeatson theirmenus. Carpaccio, the thinly sliced
rawbeefwith condiments createdat
Harry’sBar
in
Venice, hasbecomea stapleof Italian restaurantsevery-
where,while
crudi
— Italian chefs’ versionof sushi—has
becomeall the rage, fromNice toNaples. Combining the
two, there isnow carpaccioof seafood, pioneeredat
Le
Bernardin
inNewYork, nowubiquitous in seafood
restaurants likeChicago’s
L2O
,where chef laurentGras
serves raw tunawith tomato, hibiscus, and foiegras
“snow,”aswell asflukewith friedgarlic.
➤
Charcuterie at Frasca Food andWine
Amish chicken
and serrano
ham at Sepia
Salmon, ginger, parsley, and
cantaloupe at L20
Cheese selection fromArtisanal
