We're delighted to announce the arrival of some very special pork products on our deli counter this spring! You may already be familiar with Norwalk, Iowa's Herb Eckhouse and his company La Quercia's world class prosciutto either from our passionate retail staff or from Christopher Hall's article in the November 2007 issue of Saveur. We've known Herb for many years and have always been proud to serve his prosciutto and pancetta on our counter. Several months back, Herb and the folks at La Quercia (pronounced "kwair-cha") began an exciting project with Becker Lane Organic Farm in nearby Dyersville (where Field of Dreams was filmed, by the way), to raise a limited number of organic, heirloom, Berkshire hogs on an acorn diet. Although we're starting to see a few more producers using Berkshire pigs, it's still pretty rare and Herb has taken his passion for having the best pork possible to an even higher level. The Berkshire breed is already widely renowned for its silky meat and generous, flavorful fat, but when these pigs are treated to an acorn diet, the result is a truly heavenly hog-eating experience. If you're familiar with the highly prized Iberico Bellota in Spain, you know about the centuries-old tradition of raising hogs on an acorn diet. The taste is sublime and unlike anything you've ever tried. This is the first time pigs raised using this traditional method have been for sale in the U.S.

We've been selling La Quercia's products from the beginning, and Herb imports the supremely delicious bone-in Parma ham on our counter. We really trust the guy. So when he offered us a subscription to his 'Acorn Edition,' where we would 'adopt' an organic, humanely raised and humanely dispatched hog, and receive fresh pork and an abundant variety of cured salumi from it, we leapt at the rare prospect. And we weren't the only ones that saw the 'Acorn Edition' as an exceptional opportunity either; many of the nation's top chefs also subscribed including Mario Batali at Otto Enoteca in NYC and Nate Applebaum at A16 in San Francisco. That said, Zingerman's is one of only two retailers in the country (and the only one in the Midwest) that will be carrying these very limited and distinctive products. So stop in at the Deli, look for the 'La Quercia Acorn Edition' logo on our counter, and be sure to get a taste of some extraordinary and wildly delicious cured pork.

A few highlights on the counter now!
Pork Rillettes
When we thought about what to do with the surplus bits and pieces of the fantastic fresh meat, we had one very clear and unwavering thought: rillettes! This is a classic French technique of salting well-marbled meat for twelve hours, then cooking it slow and low until all of the fat liquefies, and the meat is tender enough to rake into shreds. Our own Chef Rodger delicately seasoned the resulting meat 'jam' until it was just right, and allowed it to cool in a terrine where it will keep, perfectly preserved in its own fat, for quite some time (i.e. until we eat it all!) O.K. fine, it's not health food! Think of it as an easy, once in a while treat: right out of the fridge and spread onto hot baguette from Zingerman's Bakehouse. The heat of the bread just takes the chill off of the rillettes and a little of that fabulous fat melts in. It's sooo good, it won't last long in the fridge unless you hide it from your family.

Pancetta Americano
We've been selling La Quercia's Pancetta Americano for a while now. It's really something special and unique. The tradition for most Pancetta is for the pork belly to be seasoned, salted, rolled and fermented. At La Quercia, they like doing things a little differently; instead of adding starter cultures to ferment the pork, which results in a more salami-like tanginess, they simply salt-cure the belly, making for a sweeter, smoother flavor. Mr. Eckhouse thought that with the 'Acorn Edition,' he would stick with tradition and do a rolled product. But these pigs did a real number on the acorns and he noticed how much fatter the heirloom pig bellies were, some of them literally twice the thickness of a commodity belly and simply too fat to roll! With the 'Acorn Edition' Pancetta (now flat but just as delicious!) you can plainly see that you're getting something special, and it's perfectly seasoned with the right balance of salt, bay, and juniper.

Guanciale
Guanciale (say "gwan-cheeah-lay"), or cured pork cheek, is a traditional product in central Italy but, compared to Pancetta or Prosciutto, it's almost entirely unheard of here in America. We want to do our part to change that. We're crazy about this stuff! One of the things that distinguishes it from cured pork belly is the amount of gelatin locked away in the cheek fat. When you use Guanciale to start your favorite pasta sauce (well, all of our favorite pasta sauces start with pork fat!) your sauce comes out thicker, tighter, and it clings onto that Martelli noodle. The Acorn Edition Organic Guanciale is judiciously cured with just enough salt, and accented with a little black pepper and rosemary. This Guanciale will bait bacon's long standing pork fat supremacy!

Lardo (coming soon!)
Even rarer still in the U.S. is cured pork back fat. We like to say that Lardo's got all the goodness of bacon, without all that pesky meat getting in the way! Herb Eckhouse is marketing this product as "Iowa White," admitting to himself that most American consumers would be troubled eating a product called "Lardo." But here at Zingerman's, we like to stick with tradition, so we'll call it "Lardo," and we think you'll just call it "amazing!" La Quercia, always working for a unique eating experience with each product, is seasoning the back fat with just enough salt to draw out the water, and a warm spice blend of clove, coriander, nutmeg, white and black pepper. Tradition in Italy is to serve paper thin slices raw as antipasto on its own or on slices of hot bread. The warmth melts the Lardo on contact, wafting up all the aromas of sweet fat and warm spices. It's scrumptious and a delicious alternative to buttered toast. You're probably reading all of this, thinking: "What about the Prosciutto?" Patience, pork lover, the pig legs are coming soon! Check out future newsletters and get on our mailing list at zingermansdeli.com for further installments about forthcoming products in La Quercia's Acorn Edition!