V for Viscera

Yesterday Alex, Cass and I went to another of our cooking classes at Ristorante Mezzo Mezzo in San Rafael, this one focusing on the city of Catania. We made three dishes this time:

~ Nzalata di Puppu (Octopus Salad)

~ Pasta alla Norma

~ Pasta o Furnu Catanisa (Baked Pasta Catanese)

The Pasta alla Norma was named after the opera "Norma" written by Vincenzo Bellini who was born in Catania.

 We also had an additional surprise dish to start off the day. Following the Palermo class last week I emailed Giovanni asking about various types of Palermo street food, and when we arrived he was frying up a batch of chopped viscera (sadly, he had been unable to procure any spleen on short notice) which we enjoyed on a bun with some lemon and grated caciocavallo cheese on top. 

Quite tasty (even Alex and Cass liked it), although I am not sure it is really intended as a breakfast dish.

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Tasty Salted Pig Parts on the Way

Passing through the Ferry Building this morning I noted that the covering has come off the Boccalone store (this is the salume people set up by the folks at Incanto). It is apparently not yet open, although it looks like it will not be long.

They have a very good location -- right in the middle of the Ferry Building next to the Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant. The space they used to be in was formerly a vegetable store which brings to mind the saying "Salume, the new vegetable."

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A Beautiful Weave of Ear

I fear I may have inadequately described the first dish we enjoyed at the Head to Tail dinner at Incanto on Monday as simply "pigs' ears". Not wanting to mislead anyone, I thought I should advise that it appears the dish may in fact be similar to the "Pressed Pig's Ear" dish attributed in this recipe to Fergus Henderson - sort of the Chris Consentino of London.

I particularly like his poetic description of the "thin slivers of joyous piggy jelly, within which there is a beautiful weave of ear" as well as the instructions relating to the use of the Bic razor (perhaps implying that you may not want to us an implement that you plan to use later on some part of your body?).

I fear there may be little chance of being permitted to try to replicate this dish at home, given in part the three days of brining required in the fridge!

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