All Hail the Pig!

All Hail the Pig! Pork, Couchon, Schweinfleisch, whatever you call it, it is made into many different luxury products. Photo. The king of the pork products, though, is prosciutto.

Prosciutto, also known as Parma Ham, Jambon Rouge, and Jamon is known throughout the world as a luxury product. It wears a lofty price tag to go along with it too. In America, at the time of writing, Prosciutto di Parma costs about $12-$15 per pound. Is it worth it? You better believe it! What is it about the ham that makes it so valuable? It is all about the process.

The process is ancient and at least partially well-guarded. In general terms, the ham is salted for several months, then air dried for up to two years. The drying process removes the water, and concentrates the flavor and aroma. The end process is a velvety-textured ham with a unique flavor and aroma. The entire job description of some lucky individuals is to place a special tool into specific locations on the ham at certain intervals before pulling a sample, and checking its aroma and taste.

What should you look for when buying prosciutto? Dark red is not a good sign. I have purchased pre-packaged 'proshoot' in the grocery store, and it just is not right. I cannot believe the proper process was used to make it. You should look for dry, whole prosciutto that is sliced razor thin on the spot. Specialty grocers are more apt to have a better product in this country, as frankly, the people who work at the supermarkets don't even know what prosciutto is, and will make comments like "why would you pay for this when the honey baked ham is on special?" Or, even, "this stuff looks disgusting!"

Beware one of the oldest prosciutto sales tricks in the book: the idea that the paper thin slices must be layered with wax paper to keep it from sticking. This is simply hogwash, and in my opinion, a way for the $12-$15 per pound delicacy to quickly reach your desired weight, and at your cost. If the prosciutto is quality, and dry, it should not stick together anyway! I want prosciutto, not wax paper!

One of the best ways to eat prosciutto is by itself with a glass of red wine. The red wine should recall the taste of the prosciutto for several minutes after your last bite. Keep sipping the wine and tasting the prosciutto until the taste is no longer recalled, then eat some more. In the Southern European culture, it is common for most people to eat even the fat of the prosciutto. I admit I pull most of the fat off before eating it. My friend from the northern European reaches of Göteborg, told me it is a common practice in Sweden to remove the fat. A very popular way to present prosciutto at a dinner party is to drape it over melon (a.k.a. cantaloupe). The melon, like the wine should recall the taste of the prosciutto, although in my opinion, not as well. Just remember, keep the accompaniment simple.

Prosciutto can also be made into a sandwich- just lightly butter baguettes, and incorporate the prosciutto. I would advise against adding too many other ingredients or spices- you paid for the prosciutto, enjoy its taste, not the taste of other ingredients. Oh, and one of the biggest sins in my opinion is cooking prosciutto- it ruins everything the curer worked for and you paid for.

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The Very Thought of You...

"I am writing my blog if anyone cares."(1) It is once again the holiday season, time to "shovel the turkey, and stuff the snow."(2) Thanksgiving is just around the corner and it is time for my yearly ritual of watching one of my top ten movies, Home For The Holidays. The underrated Jody Foster movie has been criticized by some as being sacrilegiously anti-family. I disagree, I think if anything it tells the awful truth about so many families that many would rather hide.

It also tells another uncomfortable truth about loneliness. It reminds us we can be surrounded by our family and still be alone. This is apparent from the beginning of the film after Claudia (Holly Hunter) is picked up by her parents at the airport. She looks into another car where a man who we assume has also just been picked up by his parents looks at her as if to say "help me, I am begging you!" When Claudia arrives at her parents house she asks herself, "who are these people?" Later, when Claudia's parents drop her off at the airport, Adele Larson (Anne Bancroft) asks, fighting back her tears, "who was that girl anyway?" Tommy Larson (Robert Downey Jr.) is clearly alone, as no one except Claudia will even acknowledge he is gay. The movie is full of similar dialogues and situations that remind us we are all alone.

The tension is apparent between family members, but all hell breaks loose when Tommy Larson accidentally (?) pours the stuffing from a turkey on his sister Joanne's (Cynthia Stevenson) head.

The section entitled,"The Point" is the climax of the film, and a very beautiful, poetic, nostalgic way to bring everything together. I am a real sucker for nostalgia, and my favorite movies almost always seem to contain nostalgic elements. For me "The Point" is reminiscent of my favorite movie, Cinema Paradiso, when Salvatore (Jacques Perrin) watches a montage of kissing scenes spanning every movie that was shown at the Paradiso throughout his life that had been deemed pornographic by Father Aldelfio (Leopoldo Trieste), cut and reassembled by Alfredo (Philippe Noiret).

In "The Point" the viewer hears the voice of Nat 'King' Cole singing "the Very Thought of You" as we see what appears to be old home movies of the various characters. We find out that even the characters that may appear mean-spirited or soulless in the film have passed short-lived moments in their lives where they are happy and before our eyes they are rehabilitated. Henry Larson's proud moment was standing with his family on the airport tarmac watching a plane fly close overhead. Tommy's moment was his marriage on a beach with his partner and friends. Even Joanne and Walter Wedman (Steve Guttenberg) share a playful moment together chasing each other around.

We have heard about Claudia's moment with her daughter Kit (Claire Danes) throughout the film. In fact, throughout the film, she reminds herself, "just float." We finally see in her moment, she is snorkeling with her daughter; they see a beautiful school of fish and look at each other in wonder. Curiously, Dylan McDermott, who Claudia will try her best not to fall in love with is named Leo "Fish". The Point is touching, and pure genius.

The soundtrack, including original music composed and arranged by Mark Isham, is one of my all time favorites. The only thing I would criticize is the use of the Janice Joplin tune, "Piece of My Heart," for the credits which in my opinion, breaks the mood created by the cinematography, and the rest of the soundtrack, but especially, "The Point." Jody Foster has defended the choice, saying the words match perfectly what she was trying to convey.

The film reminds me to be thankful for ribbons of memories that sweeten life when youth is through.(3)

1. Adele Larson makes a similar comment about making coffee.

2. Henry Larson (Charles Durning) makes this funny faux pas in the Thanksgiving prayer.

3. Paraphrased and unashamedly lifted from "With You" from Pippin.

How to Choose Wine Like a Pro

If you have studied wine for any amount of time, you start to collect names of reputable wines in your head. Thus, you know that if you purchase a bottle of Château d'Yquem, it will probably be delicious. This entry, however, is to help the person with little or no knowledge to pick a bottle of good wine.
Labels: One of the foremost rules of purchasing wine is never buy a wine because of its label. I also believe it is just as true that a wine should not be rejected because of its label. That being said, I believe a label is important. It is the first impression we have about a wine, unless we previously read reviews about it. The label can tell a lot about how the vintner sees his wine. Photo credit.

Bottles: This is the real secret. It is not really a "secret", in fact, some think this method is a hoax. One person claims to have scientifically and mathematically proven the method is not a hoax. With the method I am going to impart to you, I believe you can choose a good bottle of wine 90% of the time: In general, the method is this: the bottom of the bottle tells you the quality of the wine. Flat bottomed bottle= less quality, the greater the punt (a.k.a. dimple), the greater the quality. Here are some photos to illustrate what I mean.



Bottle # 1: This bottle flat-bottomed. Photo credit.

Bottle # 2: This bottle has a very small punt. Photo credit.

It goes without saying, if you put the contents of bottle # 1 into the largest punted bottle manufactured, it will not be transformed into a fine wine. However, for the most part you can be assured a deep punt means good wine.

So why is this? It is simple economics. Flat bottomed bottles are the least expensive to produce. It is my understanding that all bottles start off as flat bottomed. When bottle makers create punts by pushing the glass up from the bottom, it makes the bottle appear heavier, larger, and more luxurious to the touch. The higher the punt, the greater the chance of breakage during manufacture, and thus the higher the indention, the greater the cost per bottle.

So how does this relate to the wine in the bottle? A vintner of a $3 table wine does not want to spend $1.50 for the bottle, as that would eat his profits. A vintner of a $30 wine would do well to spend the extra money because when the customer picks up the bottle, she can feel the bottle is distinctive. So, the secret is this: hold the bottle around the neck with the left hand. Insert finger into the punt to gauge the deepness of the indention. If it is very deep, the probability is that you are holding a good wine, or at least a wine the vintner thinks is worthy of a good bottle.

Disclaimer: The only claimed scientific data backing for this method is linked, above. As for me, it is just my observation, and I cannot guarantee you will like the wine you purchase just because there is a deep punt....