It's now the Year of the Pig, in case you haven't been paying attention. And just in time. Last year was dogs, not particularly tasty. Pigs, on the other hand, are delicious. Ask Fergus Henderson at St. John Restaurant in London, whose Nose to Tail Eating gets nothing but raves on Amazon.com. Ask Armandino Battali at Salumi, right in Seattle, whose cured meats appear on the best tables around the country.
And ask Lisa Nakamura, who moved to Seattle to start up Qube. Through February 25th, she's serving 3- and 5-course "Ode to the Pig" menus (for $45 and $65): char siu, kurobatu tenderloin, wild boar cheek, pork chop ... you get the picture. Doubtful she'll try it next February, it being Year of the Rat.
Qube, 1901 2nd Avenue, Seattle, 206-770-5888
Posted by Ronald Holden at February 19, 2007 3:27 PMEeewww eww eww, rat five ways.
Yes, let us know if you find some La Quercia in Seattle.
Posted by: Jess at February 19, 2007 8:33 PMGotta admit, the stuff on La Quercia's website looks pretty amazing. Turns out they're from Parma. See Cornichon's "Hamming it up in Parma" dispatch from December, 2006: http://www.cornichon.org/archives/000383.html and subsequent posts.
Posted by: Ronald at February 19, 2007 5:17 PMRonald,
I know I push this Iowa-gourmet-foods thing a little hard, but I just managed to try La Quercia, an Iowa prosciutto, since it is indeed the Year of the Pig. (See http://www.laquercia.us/.) It's really tasty but very high fat next to Italian prosciuttos I've had; I suspect it verges on being culatello. But give it a look; perhaps someone in the Seattle area stocks it.
PK
Posted by: Paul Kretkowski at February 19, 2007 4:40 PM