Through the help of Emile, (thanks alot) myself and a group of students at the Culinary Institute of America were able to obtain an entire Ossabaw hog about 9 months old from Eliza Mclean of Cane Creek Farm (www.canecreekfarm.us). We have constructed a 6 course dinner, each course being composed of 3-4 components or "tastes" from the hog. We are utilizing every part of the hog, and the dinner is scheduled for tomorrow evening. We've got a lot of prep to do in the morning but if anyone would like to be kept up to date on this, please let me know. We will be posting photos, and the menu and recipes are already posted at
www.chefauchter.com/ossabawproject One of our chefs as well as several students with SHARP knives did all of the butchery, and we were able to come up with some pretty creative ways of presenting certian cuts.

Buen Provecho

Hi,

I went to your website with all the interesting recipes, which by itself makes it a worthwhile visit.

Is this dinner being conducted at CIA headquarters in Hyde Park, New York?

"Another in the Series of Globally Inspired Dinners by The Global Culinary Society," when you have time please advise what were your other dinners. From reading your website, "The Global Culinary Society raises awareness of world cultures and cuisines." I have the impression this is a student organization. If they have their own website or webpage, then please provide a link.

Thanks for thinking of us.

Regards,

Queijo wrote:In the meantime, if you want to reserve your entirely legal Jamon, you can secure it with a $199 deposit. The hams are expected to sell for around $1000 for the best ones.

Pata Negra has set foot on our shores. If you don't want to part with $1000 for a whole ham, and they are currently sold out, it is, or soon will be, available for approximately $90/lb at Sam's, Pastoral, Schaefer's and a few other spots around town.

I've had the pleasure of eating Pata Negra in Spain, finished on acorns the rich, silky, slightly nutty piggy flesh is the stuff of dreams.

Enjoy,
Gary

Jamón Ibérico arrived at Pastoral last evening so I picked up a few slices. Extraordinary stuff—nutty, sweet, mildly salty. At $89.95 per pound (that's $2.25 a slice) it won't be on my regular shopping list but I'll think about it often.







Pastoral
53 E Lake St
Chicago
312-658-1250

Note: Jamón Ibérico isn't available at Pastoral's Lakeview shop (the Loop store has a better slicer).

Does anybody know if any of the places selling jamon iberico in the city are hand slicing? That's who'll get my business.

I'm headed up to the detroit/windsor area after christmas, so hopefully I'll be able to swing by Zingerman's and they'll be hand slicing it by then. I'm very, very excited.

Binny's across from Manny's has it, for $80/lb, and is machine slicing. It's still damn good stuff, and the woman working the cheese/deli counter couldn't be nicer or more helpful, and her excitement for the ham is contagious.

This location, by the way, is swanky. Quite something. Pretty good beer selection, too, and a really very nice cheese selection, with very few presliced/prewrapped cheeses.

Anyway, I now have 10 $1/each smallish slices coming up to room temperature on the counter. I am a very happy man.

I placed my order with La Tienda almost four years ago for this boneless Iberico. Well worth the wait. In theory, I'll be getting a Bellota next year. With the USDA increasingly willing to certify foreign producers, won't it be grand to have access to more of these kinds of delicacies?

HI,

Oy, here we are marveling over slices. While you have the whole damn ham! The early bird gets the worm!

Will you now keep it in your wine cooler?

Congratulations on your new acquisition.

Regards,

I too was unable to resist the call of Jamon Iberico, machine sliced and a relative bargain at $77.95 per pound at Sam's.*

Jamon Iberico (Sam's Marcey Street)



Rene G pegged the Jamon Iberico, "Extraordinary stuff—nutty, sweet, mildly salty" though I was struck by two things, three if you count my Bug's Bunny moment as I floated off in space after a taste, in comparison to serrano and prosciutto how subtle the Iberico was in both salt content and flavor.



As much as I enjoyed the Iberico I am starting a rear leg Bellota savings account and should, hopefully, have enough saved to purchase 1/2-lb when it hits our shores next year.

*Marcey Street location
Chicago, IL 60614

Bill/SFNM wrote:In theory, I'll be getting a Bellota next year.

Bill,

That is one good looking hunk of pig flesh, I hope you will share a few of the ways you plan to use the Jamon Iberico. Though I wonder if anything beats simply out of hand with a bit of good bread and cheese.

I understand the Bellota hams will be arriving sometime in July '08 which, coincidentally, is when we are planning a trip to SF/NM.

Enjoy,
Gary

Cathy2 wrote:HI,

Oy, here we are marveling over slices. While you have the whole damn ham! The early bird gets the worm!

Will you now keep it in your wine cooler?

Congratulations on your new acquisition.

Regards,

Thank you, Cathy2. No, I will keep it in the refrigerator as recommended by La Tienda for the boneless hams.

Bill/SFNM

G Wiv wrote:

Bill/SFNM wrote:In theory, I'll be getting a Bellota next year.

I hope you will share a few of the ways you plan to use the Jamon Iberico. Though I wonder if anything beats simply out of hand with a bit of good bread and cheese.

I understand the Bellota hams will be arriving sometime in July '08 which, coincidentally, is when we are planning a trip to SF/NM.

Enjoy,
Gary

Gary,
For now I am just slicing thin pieces and allowing them to melt on the tongue without any distractions. So good. Better than the Jabugo I had last year in Spain which was the best ham I had eaten until then. Looking forward to the Bellota in 2008. Let me know when you'll be arriving.

Best,
Bill/SFNM

Rene G wrote:Jamón Ibérico arrived at Pastoral last evening so I picked up a few slices. Extraordinary stuff—nutty, sweet, mildly salty. At $89.95 per pound (that's $2.25 a slice) it won't be on my regular shopping list but I'll think about it often.

Funny. I believe I'm the person holding that ham. Nice to kind of meet you. I was wondering if I would see the pictures later.

I stopped in at Pastoral yesterday afternoon and purchased two thin slices (for about $6). Excellent. I was most impressed with the distinct nutty flavor which lingered on the tongue for quite some time.

G Wiv wrote:I hope you will share a few of the ways you plan to use the Jamon Iberico.

The sandwich of my dreams:



Bill/SFNM

I assume that is not store bought bread. Great looking sandwich Bill.

Bill, could you give us an idea of how much you spent on your jamon and/or how much it weighs? I'm curious about the markup in retail stores.

chgoeditor wrote:Bill, could you give us an idea of how much you spent on your jamon and/or how much it weighs? I'm curious about the markup in retail stores.

My ham weighed 8.3 pounds. Current list price for these is $87 per pound. (I paid significantly less by virtue of having placed an order with a $200 deposit back in March of 2004. However, if you evaluate the opportunity cost of this amount over 4 years on a Euro-based asset, I definitely took a bath!).

At any rate, the wholesale price paid by the store is what you're going to need. I haven't a clue.

Bill/SFNM

Bruce wrote:I assume that is not store bought bread. Great looking sandwich Bill.

Thanks, Bruce. Store bought? You know me well. These sweet baguettes were given a slow, 4-day rise and baked in the brick oven were the perfect backdrop for the ham.

Bill/SFNM wrote:

chgoeditor wrote:Bill, could you give us an idea of how much you spent on your jamon and/or how much it weighs? I'm curious about the markup in retail stores.

My ham weighed 8.3 pounds. Current list price for these is $87 per pound. (I paid significantly less by virtue of having placed an order with a $200 deposit back in March of 2004. However, if you evaluate the opportunity cost of this amount over 4 years on a Euro-based asset, I definitely took a bath!).

At any rate, the wholesale price paid by the store is what you're going to need. I haven't a clue.

Bill/SFNM

Interesting, thanks! I mistakenly assumed you would have gotten a bulk discount or paid something closer to wholesale. But your mention of the Euro does raise a good point. Presumably the weak dollar has also contributed to the hefty price.

Bill/SFNM wrote:In theory, I'll be getting a Bellota next year.

Was at the new Binny's on Jefferson St today and was more than a little surprised to see Paleta Iberica Bellota Boneless (Fermin) for $79.99 per lb. I could not resist a small amount, especially after the clerk gave me a small taste of the rich black footed goodness, and do find the Bellota slightly richer than the Jamon Iberico I purchased a few weeks ago at Sam's.

Coincidentally, I had picked up the perfect accompaniment, a Medici Bakery baguette, my candidate, along with Fox and Obel, for best baguettes in Chicago.

Binny's
1132 S. Jefferson Street
Chicago, IL 60607

Medici Bakery
1331 E. 57th St.
Chicago, IL
773-667-7394

They really had the Bellota? At that price? I think maybe it was mislabeled, since I don't think the Bellota is being imported yet, and when it is, it will be more than that price, wholesale.

gleam wrote:They really had the Bellota? At that price? I think maybe it was mislabeled, since I don't think the Bellota is being imported yet, and when it is, it will be more than that price, wholesale.

Ed,

All points I made with the cheese/deli clerk, at which point he gestured to the case and an actual ham labeled from the producer as such.

I have a few pictures, imagine that, which I will post later this evening.

Enjoy,
Gary

Very cool, not doubting you, just doubting them

Binny's Jefferson Strreet 1.04.08

Pata Negra Bellota




1.4.08


Binny's
1132 S. Jefferson Street
Chicago, IL 60607

Hot damn.

One thing I like about that binny's is that they slice it more thinly than most of the other purveyors in the area seem to. The thinner slices really allow the fat to melt instantly on your tongue.

One question if anyone knows: Fermin's website lists "jamon iberico de bellota" and "paleta iberico de bellota" as separate products. My spanish isn't good enough to know what the difference is. I know what paleta means literally, but that doesn't really help me here.. The only thing I can think is that one is the front legs and one is the back legs, but I don't know.

edit: nevermind. paleta comes from the front leg, jamon comes from the rear legs. that explains the price difference and maybe why they have it already, especially if the paleta gets a shorter cure than the jamon.

Friggin' Steve Dolinsky just did a 5 minute bit on the 10 o'clock Friday night news that we essentially scripted with the latter half of this thread, down to the very locations and prices of the ham in the city currently. More blatant LTH-mining than I've ever seen before, and no shout-out whatsoever. KHHHAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!! [shaking fist]

The Juicy Wine Company had Bellota when I was there the other night. It was a leg with the bone in. I didn't notice the price, but I was surprised to see the whole leg of bellota there. None of it is quite as good as the picture I posted some time ago here:

Santander wrote:More blatant LTH-mining than I've ever seen before, and no shout-out whatsoever.

Matt,

While I agree data mining of LTHForum does occur having watched Steve Dolinsky's Iberico video I don't agree that is the case here. I'm guessing Dolinsky has been receiving Pata Negra press releases for months from the importer and local gourmet stores. Also, pretty much every big city paper, NYT, Tribune, Chicago Reader, did a Pata Negra story.

Enjoy,
Gary

I have to have a nemesis, Gary. Don't deny me a nemesis! Seriously, I don't have a personal investment in this thread, but y'all have created a masterpiece, and I think you were well ahead of the curve (by some YEARS) before this was picked up in the mainstream. I did look around at some of the other sources you mentioned and was not aware of their coverage, so I'll back off a bit, but I just know that next week the Hound is going to "discover" the Will Special, and that'll be a sad day. But I realize one shouldn't feel ownership of a place or a dish. LTH is all about sharing secrets. We just do it the right way.