Eat This Now      10/10/2008  

The Summit of Porkdom: Boqueria’s Ossabaw Degustation

Spaniards may claim that their legendary iberico hogs are the final word in pork, but we here at at Citysearch bleed red, white, and blue, and consider their American cousins, the ossabaw, every bit as good: gamey, vivid, porky almost to the point of tasting feral. The pigs are fed by the same means as their Spanish cousins, and run around on Virginia hills under the watchful gaze of Eco-Friendly Farms’ Bev Eggleston, eating acorns and getting fat and sassy. Seamus Mullen and his Chef de Cuisine, Michael Camplin at Boqueria, created an ossabaw tasting dinner the other night out of one fortunate hog, and I was lucky enough to get to eat it. Below are the courses, as they appeared to my widened, appreciative eyes. 

Embutidos Caseros: House-made Ossabaw Island Hog Chorizo, Salchichon, Fuet, Papada on Toast. With all due respect to Bar Boulud, this is the best charcuterie I ever ate.

Ensalada de Oreja: Crispy Tamaworth Pigs Ear Salad, Rocket, Poached Quail’s Egg. Again, this was unbelieveable: the ear meat was crisp but yielding, and intensely porky. Any pig’s ear is good; ossabaw ear is like pork squared.

Panceta de Puerco: Confit of Tamaworth Pork Belly, Broccolini, Fig. Seriously, can you begin to imagine how good this was? Don’t you just want to pick it up and bite it like a Chunky?

Solomillo y Secreto de Puerco, Trinxat: Tenderloin and Secret of Tamaworth Pork, “Trinxat” of Yukon Gold Potatoes, Apples and Bacon. Don’t be spooked by the pink color. Pork of this quality eats better than you do and harbors no evil secrets.

Chuleta de Puerco: Triple Chop of Tamaworth Pork, Franca’s Cranberry Beans, Valdeon Cheese, Spinach. Not really much to add here. Only that the jus at the bottom of the plate was as intense as Chateau Y’Quem.

Now touching on this business of ossabow, you may remember that the Spanish explorers of the new world in the 15th century brought a number of iberico pigs with them, and a number of these pigs ended up running wild on an island near Georgia, The Spaniards threw in the towel but the pigs stayed, and essentially colonized the place, breeding amongst themselves and generally having a high old time. These are the so-called ossabaw pigs, cousins to iberico, and with the same magnificent fat and flavor. Call ahead to see when Boqueria may have these Special Guest Pigs; they’re worth a special trip, as they say in the Michelin Guide.

Photos: Stephanie Shih

Comments

One Response to “The Summit of Porkdom: Boqueria’s Ossabaw Degustation”

  1. brunis_dick on October 10th, 2008 5:43 pm

    good work, Cutty. Glad to have you back in the saddle…

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