I think I’m just now getting out of my piggy coma from last weekend’s Artisanal LA extravaganza. I didn’t get to every table, but it seemed that at just about every turn, someone had something studded, topped, infused or mixed with bacon.
Bacon being used in every sweet and savory way imaginable will probably hit the tipping point soon, if it hasn’t already. But smoked, salted pork is such a culinary staple, it will never go away–unless, of course, we run out of pigs.
Cue the Lindy & Grundy meat mavens, Amelia Posada and Erika Nakamura. I’m not saying they’ll be the reason the pig population dwindles. Rather, with their focus on selling organic, sustainably raised meats at their soon-to-open (hopefully by the holidays) Mid-City butcher shop, we’ll surely have that wonderful, mystical animal for many years to come.
For the workshop series that ran throughout the two-day event, the gals broke down a whole pig to a rapt audience on both days, and they did it with such ease and grace that even I walked away thinking, “Hey, I can carve up a whole pig! No problem!” As a gift to all of the Artisanal LA-goers, they raffled off all of the pig parts at the end of the day, and I scored the head (OK, I begged for it) thinking I’d make headcheese at home.
Yes, headcheese. Honestly, I didn’t know I liked the stuff until I did this story, and I really thought I could do it myself in my own home kitchen. Instead, I smartly gave the head to a chef friend who has way more experience handling such things. (And I’m still waiting on my headcheese!)
