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February 5, 2009 at 2:12 am #656673
cjboffoliParticipantI commend the Pi reporter for her good bit of journalism in getting to the bottom of the deal. But the comments are pretty ugly. It is pretty cowardly for mostly anonymous commenters to pile on like that. I don’t know Gabriel very well. I’ve met him a few times. But every time I have he has been nothing but an extremely smart, kind, passionate person and a natural born teacher. Maybe he flew a little close to the sun on this one. But he is hardly the first artisan food producer that has bristled at the ridiculous hoops and excessive regulation that too often crushes small start-ups. I guess we can thank Upton Sinclair and many decades of attorneys for the fact that Americans eat the most over-processed, over-pasturized food in the world.
February 5, 2009 at 3:49 am #656674
JanSParticipantI was just looking at the archived link to The Swinery, and I noticed at the bottom that there was an offer to buy into an 8 week old piggy. It was stated that it was a Mangalitsa pig. So…take heart, bacon lovers, Wooley Farm Pigs in Auburn, I believe, now sells it’s meats and bacons at the WS Farmer’s Market, or so the Farmer’s market website says. Yes, the very same Mangalitsa pigs, heirloom all, grown for their fat content…and I understand every bit to die for.
For history re: these pigs, read here:
http://blog.foodista.com/2009/01/06/home-smoked-mangalitsa-bacon/
February 5, 2009 at 3:51 am #656675
JanSParticipantumm..that would be Wooly Pig Farms – lol…because they have curly hair…do a google, and check out images…they’re kinda cute :)
February 5, 2009 at 3:56 am #656676
JanSParticipantFebruary 5, 2009 at 4:07 am #656677
cjboffoliParticipantJan: When I attended one of the Swinery’s slaughters, the pigs were heirloom Berkshire pigs. They were mighty tasty too!
February 5, 2009 at 4:17 am #656678
JanSParticipantthey really are cute, aren’t they, in a strange kind of way?
I wasn’t sure what The Swinery had, but was surprised to see the Mangalitsa breed mentioned on their site. Guess I really do have to get my arse up to the WSFM, and buy some bacon, huh.
I hope everything works out well for Gabe…he’s not exactly a traditional chef, but his bacon was damned good…sigh…
February 5, 2009 at 4:27 am #656679
cjboffoliParticipantI’m not sure if anyone noticed this. But we discovered something that we called the “fleur du bacon” when we cooked our December bacon. Instead of cooking it in a frying pan, we spread it out on a sheet pan and baked it in the oven. This is such a great way to cook bacon, especially when you want to make the whole pound at once. It saves your cooktop from the spatter as well. Anyway, when we made the bacon in the sheet pan we noticed among the drippings some very delicate, crispy bunches of flakes. They were at once smoky, salty and sweet. It was wonderful and unexpected.
February 5, 2009 at 4:50 am #656680
austinMemberDefinitely Chris. That’s how I’ve cooked all four pounds that have gone through my kitchen and I’m hooked. I’ll never fry bacon in a pan again, and the drippings are perfect. I didn’t know that the “blossoms” of crisp present had a name. I wish I had some bacon now! But I’m in the process of working off last year’s holiday cheer, so..
February 5, 2009 at 5:04 am #656681
cjboffoliParticipantWe coined the name from the fleur du sel as it had that same, delicate texture.
February 6, 2009 at 3:56 am #656682
GinaParticipant“I guess we can thank Upton Sinclair and many decades of attorneys for the fact that Americans eat the most over-processed, over-pasturized food in the world.”
From what I remember from reading “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, the opposite would be true. One would be looking for small operations, and not meats processed by large national conglomerates after reading his exposes of the Chicago slaughterhouses.
Upton Sinclair was the Morgan Spurlock of his day.
February 6, 2009 at 4:03 am #656683
inactiveMemberFebruary 6, 2009 at 7:53 am #656684
FullTiltParticipantI used to work at a busy high end cafe, and that is how we would cook off bacon. You can fit three pounds on a full size sheet pan. We would use the bacon grease to fry the potatoes.
Funny thing is that lard has less fat then butter.
February 6, 2009 at 8:16 am #656685
cjboffoliParticipantGina: Probably closer to Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation. I suppose I shouldn’t malign Mr. Sinclair as he cast a much-needed light on the appalling conditions in Mid-west meat processing plants. But there was more than just a little sensationalist yellow journalism going on there, Pulitzer Prize not withstanding. And it burns me that Americans miss so much great charcuterie and cheese from Europe because of our government’s obsession with cooking every last bit of bacteria (and flavor) out of everything.
In other news, despite a rather bloodthirsty group of folks taking glee in Mr. Claycamp’s misfortune (via the PI food blog) I have had reports that Swinery Meats is on the path to working things out with the Health department regarding their permits. With a little patience and luck the artisan bacon should soon be flowing once again.
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