Offal Good

Tasty Salted Pig Parts

If you love to eat meat like I do then this is for you. The owner of Incanto and I have started an artisan meat company called “Boccalone,” which is slang for someone with a big mouth. Guess who it’s named after?! Our tagline “tasty salty pig parts” says it all. These are all the recipes I developed at Incanto over the last 4 years. We’re making a great range of cured, cooked and fresh products; 23 to be exact. We have fresh sausages, lardo, 4 types of salami, proscuitto cotto, lonza and sanguinaccio.

Last year we took over a small space in Oakland where they had been making Portugese sausage since 1910. We revamped the whole place and got our USDA approval a few months ago. We have started the Boccalone Salumi Society in the Bay Area. Members sign up for a 3-month membership and come pick up a variety of meats 2 times a month, either at Incanto or at Boccalone. Kinda like a farm CSA, but with meat! And now, we’ve started selling a few of our cured products online. For all the details, check out our website, www.boccalone.com

And make no mistake, people, this is the real deal. Like everything I do, Boccalone salumi are made the right way, the old way, and with only the best ingredients.
To learn more, read our Salumi Manifesto.

Salumi are the noblest expression of meat – a marriage with salt, spice, and time that transcends individual ingredients.

Continue reading Tasty Salted Pig Parts…

Humane Cow Slaughter

What can I say this was a huge experience. This is just a fraction of what it was like at the slaughter house I couldn’t snap pictures and participate fast enough to get the whole process step by step. Watching the folks there was like a ballet it was so smooth and clean and professional. I would like to thank them all for allowing me to be a part of there day and that amazing experience. Its no easy task to do that, and I can say that from experience now. This gave me a whole new understanding to the size and amount of work that goes into a cow from start to finish. To start there is not a photo of knocking the cow since it would startle the cow and not be a humane slaughter. There are very strict rules to adhere to and there is an outside monitoring group that comes in to be sure that the Certified Humane standards are being met. Continue reading Humane Cow Slaughter…

Its not just a egg

A few weeks ago, my wife’s friend Debra said she had a true delicacy for me to try from the Phillipines. I said I couldn’t wait. So last week I go into my fridge and there is this egg carton there for me to take to work, when I get to work I open the carton to find this:

After a closer inspection and I flipped the eggs over I find a note written on the shell for me.

So who can resist such a great prophecy, so I crack the egg and get ready to dig in and find this.

As hard as I tried I couldn’t get it down, and I can eat almost anything thrown my way. I guess the prophecy won’t come true. Darn. But to be serious this is a huge undertaking for someone who has never had anything like it. The crunch of the bones and the tickle of the feathers are hard to get used to.I know this is a common dish in many countries but for me it was way over the line. Sorry Debra– I couldn’t do it. Continue reading Its not just a egg…

Common Ground Magazine

Who would have thought that a primarily vegetarian magazine would do a story on me and my offal beliefs. A little bizarre to see my photo among ads for yoga and raw foods but, its nice to see that folks are grasping the concept whether they eat it or not. Continue reading Common Ground Magazine…

Proper Turkey Slaughter

In preparation for Thanksgiving this coming Thursday my friend Jonnatan Levia and I spent our Sunday morning up in Sebasatapol helping slaughter heirloom breed turkeys with the 4-h kids and my good friend Jim Reichardt of liberty ducks. Continue reading Proper Turkey Slaughter…

Offal on Modern Marvels

A few months ago the folks from the history channel came by and filmed me cooking pork offal. I just received the news it will be airing on modern marvels. Continue reading Offal on Modern Marvels…

Opinions

Since I started this site a year ago I have received a whole slew of responses. Both negative and positive, as I appreciate all comments if you have something to say have enough sand to sign your name to it don’t be anonymous its cowardly and unprofessional. So in all fairness i have decided to share your opinions with the world whether you like it or not.

Here are the ones that affected me the most and I wanted to share them:

Continue reading Opinions…

View from the Bay

Watch my appearance on ABC’s The View from the Bay here. Continue reading View from the Bay…

Offal Meat Markets

Here is a slew of photos that I have taken on my past 2 trips to Europe, they are from both Italy and London. These photos show the true passion for food that Europeans have and how the whole beast is a very important part of their lives. From a simple game bird to a horse meat butcher, and speciality tripperia all have there place in the daily markets.

Continue reading Offal Meat Markets…