You really can taste the difference – on three of our sandwiches!
We’ve got a new “house ham” on our sandwich menu, and we can’t wait to tell you all about it. Over the years we’ve developed a great friendship with the folks at Fra’ Mani — if you’ve tried any of their meats we have at the Deli counter or tasted our limited edition “All That and Mort!” sandwich (that won the mortadella sandwich contest last year — humble brag, lol!), you’ve tasted their amazing work. The last product switch we made on our sandwich menu was to swap the product we were using on the #26, Frank and Kathy’s Half-Italian Sub, with Fra’ Mani’s mortadella. We decided we want more Fra’ Mani on our menu–you’ll now find Fra’ Mani’s Smoked Ham on the #26 (Frank & Kathy’s Half-Italian Sub), #00 (D-Money’s Cuban Conundrum), and #40 (Siegel’s Smokey Number).
Why We Love Fra’ Mani
It’s pretty straightforward: Fra’ Mani makes great salumi and ham! They take great care to treat their animals with care and keep it completely transparent, traceable, and financially responsible back to the farmers. Their pork is 100% vegetarian fed, with no antibiotics, no added hormones, and no nitrates or nitrites. Humane animal husbandry creates better tasting food!
Founded in 2006 by acclaimed chef and cookbook author Paul Bertolli and Tom Garrity in Berkley, California, Fra’ Mani uses Bertolli’s expert-level knowledge of butchering, nose-to-tail cooking, and traditional cooking methods to create incredible tasting salumi, salame, and ham. They take great inspiration from Italian flavors and techniques, with a focus on maintaining a sustainable ecosystem in their practices.
We love carrying their products at the Deli counter, and we love sharing Fra’ Mani’s amazing flavors with you. Good quality often comes at a higher price, but Sandwich Line Manager Mike Varney worked extra hard to make sure the sandwich prices will stay the same with this new ham!
Fra’ Mani’s Smoked Ham is a whole muscle ham made from the knuckle of the pork leg, which blends light and dark meat. Hand-trussed, smoked over natural hardwood, it has an utterly addictive flavor. Unlike our previous house ham, this one is free of pepper, which we think will make it more more popular with kids! Fra’ Mani ham is also free of soy, eliminating a major allergen and allowing more folks to enjoy it! Here’s what Deli Meat Buyer Connor has to say about this ham:
“It’s smoked, but not too heavily; in fact, I’d call it a light smoke, as far as hams are concerned. It’s got that right balance between hardwood smoke and a touch of brown sugar. I love it as a straight-forward sandwich ham, first and foremost. I also love it in a shirred egg with Comte, in a quiche with Gabietou, in fried rice with Brinery Kimchi, or cubed up and tossed into a simple pot of beans seasoned with a knob of ginger and Epices de Cru’s Spicies blend of herbs and spices to make a really remarkable, yet simple soup.”
You can taste Fra’ Mani on the #26, #00, and #40. It’s also available sliced in Specialty Foods, so you can build your own sandwiches with it at home.
