Posts from ‘February, 2009’

Oliveto, a pillar of the Bay Area Italian dining scene, does various theme dinners throughout the year, one of which being Whole Hog. True to the name, the menu celebrates the beauty of all things pig, tip to tail. It should have long ago become clear to our eight loyal readers that we are unusually obsessed with pork, and this dinner is simply the annual climax of said obsession for us and those like us.

Princess was sadly unable to make it to town for the glorious event, and Yuan experienced an extremely ill-timed bout of poor judgment and turned down the chance to join. So I headed off with a small band of die-hard food lovers to worship at the temple of the hog…

We started off with the “whole cuts” plate of dry-cured salumi, which included prosciutto, coppa, lonza, lardo, pancetta, and another one the name of which escapes me. Standouts included the lardo, which was cured with rosemary and simply sublime, and the meltingly rich and delicately salty coppa.

Next I moved on to the terrine of pickled pig ears with horseradish, celery hearts and frisee. This is the only thing I had the wherewithall to photograph, before becoming lost in a porky fog of bliss. (Also the lighting was a little low for my trusty point-and-shoot.)

The terrine was soft and silky, in oh so pleasing contrast to the crisp frisee. The whole dish was perky and memorably whimsical, and I was convinced I’d ordered the best appetizer until one of my dining companions turned to me on the brink of joyful tears over his fritto of pork tripe, sweet onions and cardoons with meyer lemon and caper mayonnaise. Sweet heavenly lord was that delicious! Tender, crisply fried, unexpectedly a little bit clovey-cinnamony-warm, dunked in a little perky mayo…. The stuff, literally, that dreams are made of.

My entree was a hearty peasant-style braise of borlotti beans, gloriously fatty pork shoulder, little cotechino sausages, and assorted other little pork bits. Others had blood sausage, ravioli in brodo, and choucroute garni featuring perhaps one of the best ideas I’ve ever heard – pork “pastrami.”

Even the desserts were pork-tacular. Mine was a caramel and Valhrona chocolate tart with candied pancetta. The salty pancetta balanced nicely against the sweet caramel, both melding perfectly with the rich dark chocolate ganache. Also devoured: blood orange and bacon ice creams, and an apple strudel topped with candied bacon bits that was easily the best dessert of the three.

I tell you, this whole hog business is sheer genius. Thank god it only happens once a year, or I’d be dead broke and weigh two hundred pounds. Aside from those, though, I’d probably be quite happy.

Adam is back from his overseas adventures for a little while, and ever since he bought his plane ticket he’d been craving a burrito from Taqueria El Castillito (the one at Church and Market). Now, try as I might, I have not yet come close to sampling all the best burritos in the city, let alone the greater bay area. But thus far I consider Castillito’s to be the best around, hands down. Here are some of the reasons why:

1) They warm up the tortilla on the griddle, rather than in a steamer. The tortilla comes out flaky and toasty, rather than gummy and damp.

2) The carnitas is top notch. Rich, tender, and grilled alongside the tortilla for long enough to get a little crispy in spots.

3) If you get the super burrito, the cheese is sliced and slapped on when the tortilla’s grilling so it gets nice and melty, as opposed to cold shredded cheese chucked in the middle along with everything else.

4) You can get avocado as well as guacamole, and I strongly recommend getting the former in lieu of the latter. They will pick up a big spoon and half an avocado, and with whiplike precision and speed sling thin slices of avo into your burrito until the skin is scraped clean.

5) There’s a guy who works there who can meow like an alley cat. He does it so well that if I hadn’t seen him do it once, I would still think they had a stray tied to a pipe in the back somewhere. When Adam and I lived in the neighborhood and went to Castillito more often, he’d sometimes draw a flower on the foil in which my pending dinner was wrapped.

6) Reliably excellent horchata. Horchata is a cinnamony sweet rice milk concoction found in every SF taqueria, but Castillito’s is consistently well-balanced – not too thick, not too sweet, not too strong.

7) If you’re not feeling the standard burrito (or are hung over and need something greasier), a couple of other options stand in nicely. The quesadilla suiza is a beefy cheesy grease bomb….but you know, in a good way. The chorizo-and-eggs breakfast burrito is another take on the delicious grease bomb. I like mine with cheese, a little bit of rice, some pinto beans, and of course, avocado.

Definitely a meal worthy of Adam’s months-long craving. And now my own craving has kicked back in…

So there I was, going 11 mph on the 80 through the East Bay (aaand then again into Fairfield) thinking “Oh lord, I’ve been so good, please let there be dumplings…”

More than I ever hoped for… Then Saturday, a warm, sunny trip to the Farmer’s Market. It’s first spring here in the Bay (and surrounding territory), the cherry trees are blooming and everything smells fresh. Except that at this particular moment it’s rainy and cold in SF, and Davis rarely smells truly fresh.

These guys will keep handing you delicious samples of different Afghani flatbreads and spreads until one of your shopping companions pulls you away from the stand.

Thoroughly addictive kettle corn. Its sweet salty scent beckons from down the block. What’s that, kettle corn? I hear you! Mama’s comin’!

Puppies (and former puppies) for adoption. So hard to resist…

At home, 8 lbs of baby back ribs from Bledsoe Pork were liberally salted and peppered, and given a generous garlic rubdown.

4 hours in the oven and a bath in an orange-cabernet vinegar glaze. Glorious.

Some very sassy arugula, tossed with gorgonzola and maple-chili glazed walnuts.

Oddly, and a little disturbingly, we happened upon some pretty decent tomatoes. I think they were from San Diego?

Penne with broccoli rabe, oyster and trumpet mushrooms.

Sunday morning, french toast.

Regrettably not pictured, because I forgot to take any pics: Sunday night, back home, pillowy soft Mi Abuelita Bonita green chili tortillas were wrapped around scrumptious black mole chicken, avocado, and crumbled queso fresco. Those tortillas appear to only be available in the Sacramento area and are the stuff of which dreams are made. Its only been a week and already I’m jonesing for my next fix…