Food Quest January: Salumi Cured Meats

I think the first food quest I went on was to find huitlacoche.  It's called Mexican truffle, or the somewhat less appealing corn smut.  It's a fungus that grows on corn.  Doesn't sound very inviting?  Well, I love corn and I love mushrooms, so it sounded wonderful to me.  When I went looking for it in Seattle a few years ago, it was generally not found fresh outside Mexico.  I bought canned huitlacoche in a little latino/filipino grocery store.  I wasn't won over.  The lumpy, wet purple goo didn't look like the photos of firm, chunky, pale blue mushroomyness, I had seen.  Maybe someday I'll get my chance at some fresh huitlacoche, but until then I'll just have to keep looking for new things to tickle my fancy.

     My most recent search for interesting foods was my visit to Salumi, a little cured meat shop in the old section of Seattle, near Pioneer Square.  The shop was started in 1999 by Armandino Batali, who started making salami after he retired from engineering.  If his name sounds familiar, it's  because of his better know son who is single-handedly responsible for 3 people I work with wearing cheap orange crocs in the kitchen.  The shop is a narrow little thing, maybe 10(?) feet wide and looong.  The young women at the tiny deli case and meat slicer had the air of people in the service industry who talk to hundreds of people every day.  Big personalities, instant connection, patient and willing to lead a newcomer like me by the nose.  They were running out of things (last hour before they close for their normal 3 day weekend.  Yes, only open Tue.-Fri. 11-4!)  They were busy.  There were two tables in view, a two seater and a large communal table.  The large table started to leave as I stared at the blackboard overhead, a couple people stay behind.   I sat down at the 2 seater with my culatello sandwich, waiting for my order to get sliced 10 feet away from me.  In the tiny little seating area at the end of this long hallway there were two more open door arches, one lead to a closet filled with another communal table.  The other doorway looked punched through to the adjoining building, probably the kitchen that produces oxtail and pork cheeks for lunch.  Friday nights it serves private dinners booked months in advance.  As I finished my sandwich, the red haired meat slicer set down my bag of salty treasures.  I watched a dwindling, but steady line of newcomers stand at the deli case and stare at the blackboard ordering sandwiches or packets of sliced meats. 

    And now for your benefit alone, dear reader, I will munch and describe what I got.  That's right, as an online experiment I will be eating and writing in real time.

    While I enjoyed my on site culatello sandwich, I didn't fully appreciate the flavor of this wonderful meat until I got back home. Culatello is prosciutto made from a specialty cut of leg,  handled with a little more care.  Eating a slice all by itself allowed me to appreciate the sweet, robust flavor that also delivered delicate little surprises hiding off in the background.  This probably had the most balanced flavor of all the meats, less salty, the flavor of the meat shines through.   Lomo, the cured, air dried pork loin was salty and peppery.  More chewy, less subtle, it still has unidentifiable spices that add to the layered taste.  The hot coppa,  a spicy pork shoulder, wasn't as spicy as others I've had, but I think I like this better.  More care and better ingredients are showcased with lighter seasoning.  But speaking of spicy,  chocolate,  chipotle and cloves go into the Mole salami.  It's a taste explosion.  It's exciting,  but even keeled, no one taste dominates.   Last of all comes the lamb prosciutto.  That's right, prosciutto made from lamb.  It's funky and gamey (they use the word gamey on the blackboard).  Probably only for true lovers of lamb.  Nowadays most meats eaten by most people in this country cannot be described with the adjective gamey.  If chicken breast is at the top of your list of meaty favorites,  things like kidneys, stewed goat and lamb prosciutto are likely near the bottom.  For lamb lovers, the tangy, unctuous taste will thrill (in small quantities).

     Since salted and cured meats can store so long, I'll be able to use these for appetizers and savory palmiers.  I'll definitely return to Salumi, and next time I'll call in my order ahead like I was advised.  But with my salt and meat quota filled for the rest of the month, I think now I'll dine on unseasoned broccoli and brown rice.