A weird coincidence happened yesterday on Mother’s Day. I had spent the morning writing a piece for the newsletter about Porchetta, one of my many obsessions. Then I went to a buffet brunch at The Four Seasons (full report with pics in the newsletter coming up in the next few days,) and there it was on the carving station!
This bizarre obsession began in Rome by the Colosseum 11 years ago, and I can never satisfy it because in the States it’s usually seen in places like big cities on both East and West coasts, though I have heard of it here now and again.
Porchetta is a sublime Italian street food served on ciabatta and eaten as you walk around. It is a pork loin inside a pork belly and rolled with an herb mixture of rosemary, sage, parsley, fennel pollen, garlic, and salt and pepper inside. The roulade is trussed and roasted in the oven, so that when it emerges the pork belly outside is crackling, the fat has infused the pork loin with moisture and tenderness, and the herbal ribbon running through imparts an exquisite flavor. Bellissimo!
The Porchetta on the carving station at the Mother’s Day Buffet Brunch was gorgeous. A real specimen. The skin was perfectly crisp and the meat inside was tender and moist. The ribbon of herbs tasted mostly of garlic with an herbal undertone, but what could be wrong with that?
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I was lucky enough to be there for a new one that was crusty on the edges, and the carver was happy to oblige my request. The only thing that could have made me happier was some toasted ciabatta and a Blue Plate Mayo-mustard condiment.
