Oh Boy! Oh Boy! Oh Boy!

I just went to the Niman Ranch site to see all that they offered and found that they have lardo! If you have not experienced this, it is one of the great wonders of the culinary world. I have no idea how Niman Ranch's compares to the glorious lardo that I ate almost every day in Italy, but I am willing to give it a try. The best use is to slice it thinly and lay the slices on hot toast points. You will never have such a great antipasto, unless you have access to wild boar liver and can make a wild boar liver pate (I have a traditional Tuscan recipe, if you would like).

Alice Waters described it something like this: "cured pork lard? At first we asked, 'but how can anyone eat that' but after a bite we asked 'how can anyone do without it?'" I think it was Waters who said something like that. Anyway, I agree. Traditionally lardo is stored in beautiful marble jars, but I bought it vacuum packed in plastic and it was just fine. I am elated to find that Niman Ranch is offering this. I also noticed that they are now making pancetta, so I will have to try theirs. I have been getting Molinari's, which is outstanding, but I have to try Niman's.

One caveat is that Niman's Italian sausages are good mostly for grilling, but even then I prefer others (either my own, or the Molinari ones, and I have no idea if you can get Molinari products outside the Bay Area). They are fine sausages, but are more limited than typical Italian sausage.