Graffiti the Ghost

"Fat is beautiful. Fat is our friend."

That there is a quote from one of my new heroes, Armandino Batali, father of Iron Chef America's Mario Batali, and owner of Salumi, a carnivore's cream dream, in Seattle. I challenge any pork-loving reader to get through this NY Times article without drooling all over themselves. After reading it, culatello is now my holy grail, and I'm going to make a pilgrimage to Seattle to get a taste of it. Who's with me!? CULO!!

And speaking of fat, the results are in from my duck bacon and duck prosciutto experiments. What did I learn? Well I learned that duck has a very strong flavor, and this flavor is even stronger when presented in bacon or prosciutto form. The duck bacon alone was just too...gamey or something. While it did seem that there was less fat than pork bacon, there was twice as much grease. I don't know what the difference between fat and grease is exactly, but try some duck bacon and you'll agree - there is a difference. The duck prosciutto was intensely flavorful - almost too much so, yet I found myself jonesing for it on a daily basis nonetheless.

After my initial straight-up tastings, I used the remainder of the duck prosciutto to make this salad (with aroooogula, one of teh best food words evar), except I used a blush vinaigrette and no balsamic vinegar. It was duck-licious. I would order more duck prosciutto just to make it again. I strongly believe that nothing makes a salad better than the addition of meat, and the fattiness and pepperiness of prosciutto makes it the perfect pal for greens. I also want to try this recipe for duck prosciutto with carmelized pears. Yummm.

Since the duck bacon was just too intense on its own, I had the brilliant idea to make duck bacon fried rice with the remainder of the package. This was my first time making flied lice, so I acquired the secret recipe of Iron Chef Playa, Tung. Armed with his simple recipe (fuck peas & carrots!), my first attempt at fried rice also had duck-licious results. Duck bacon works perfectly in the dish, and although I might have used one too many eggs (hey, I like eggs), I would make it again in a heartbeat. I ate three bowls full, and would have eaten four if there was more.

Fat is beautiful. Fat is my friend.

posted by stefbot @ 1:57 PM