Slow Food Teams up with Heath Putnam Farms and Serious Pie!

SOLD OUT – June 26: Learn to Make Pancetta and Lardo with Mangalitsa Pork

Mangalitsa Pig

[To be added to our cancellation list for this event, drop us a note with your name, email, and phone number. If anyone cancels, we'll put you in touch with them to buy their ticket.]

Join Slow Food Seattle on Sunday, June 26th from 3-5pm and learn how to make your own homemade Mangalitsa pancetta and lardo at the Westlake Serious Pie location in South Lake Union. Heath Putnam (founder of Heath Putnam Farms) and Serious Pie chefs Tony Catini and Kenan Fox will lead a class on curing and producing lardo and pancetta with Mangalitsa pork. After the Mangalitsa presentation and demonstration, we’ll enjoy a three-course lunch provided by Serious Pie.
Capacity for the class and lunch is 25 people as space is limited.

Participants will be able to take their lardo home the day of the event, and can pick-up their pancetta once it has cured.

$50/person – Ticket includes the class, lunch, and selections of lardo and pancetta to take home.

Slow Food Members receive advance notice and a discounted rate for all of our events. This one currently has just 9 spots left!

Current Slow Food Members: email us for the member discount code

Pancetta

Lardo

According to Putnam, “Mangalitsa pigs are a traditional breed, essentially unchanged from 1833. In the past, when plant oils and margarine weren’t available, Mangalitsa pigs produced the fatty products like lard, lardo and bacon that consumers demanded. Mangalitsa pigs aren’t necessary anymore, but they taste the best and produce the best products.”
What is a Mangalitsa Pig?
In 2006, Heath Putnam, the founder of Heath Putnam Farms, encountered Mangalitsa while working in Europe. Impressed by its exceptional quality, and aware that America had nothing comparable, he imported a herd and began production here in Washington State. Unlike all popular breeds of hogs, which are meat-type, the Mangalitsa is an extreme lard-type breed. The Mangalitsa (pronounced MON-go-leet-sa) was created in 1833 by the Hungarian Royal Archduke Jozsef. Lard-type breeds produce high-quality fat and very marbled, juicy and flavorful meat. Mangalitsa fat is more unsaturated than normal pig fat, so it tastes much lighter, cleaner and melts at a lower temperature. The fat is also healthier and keeps longer, due to higher levels of oleic acid. For more information on Mangalitsa pork and where to find it, visit Heath Putnam Farms.

The Last Vineyard Table Supperclub... Revisited

Like many people who try to keep up on their blogs, I have this personal guilt when I don't post as often as I'd like. I have draft upon draft of blogs that will never be seen, because I don't take the time to edit or finish them- regardless of glaring mistakes or regrets that several confessions should have been screened ...slightly, I just need to simply hit post and get it out there. People hate reading apologies, (just do it already!) and I'm one of them!
So- I give you a long overdue blog post, a bittersweet photo montage of the last Vineyard Table Supperclub that was at the SODO location. The previous Vineyard Table is no more, but the silver lining is there is a group of us at Elsom Cellars who are slowly breathing life back into it. Soon we will be unearthing the bones, removing the wraps and resuscitating the magic that was and all the beautiful things that were created from it, will be again. Interested in throwing a party? Email me: melissa@elsomcellars.com


This last supper club was created with my close chef friend, Kristen Schumacher of Heirloom.  Her recap of the dinner can be found here.

Discussing a game plan minutes before service

Spices, sauce and pork to make homemade chorizo

Kristen's homemade chorizo

The table set- mismatched silver just adds character

Butchering squid, moments before the soup. Hint: butcher your own- creates the best texture

Bread, Chicken Liver Mousse, butter with Himalayan Sea Salt, Caramelized Pears

Kristen and I explain the next course

Pork belly bite on arugula with grapefruit vinaigrette, pomegranate gastrique

Flying dreams sauv blanc, signed by the winemaker, Leroy Radford

Spanish-inspired Fisherman's stew, squid, fish, house-made chorizo and proscuitto chip

The Vineyard Table

Leroy explains his wine while pouring for the soup course

2007 Elsom Cellars Malbec

Ridiculous violet color- strong pepper

Kristen cracks quail eggs

Slow Roasted Goat Mole, Manchego Polenta, Fried Quail Egg and Pickled Watermelon Radish

Hubby Mark adding the finishing pepper

My stunning niece Kaela helping with serving

Quick pose!

Chocolate Torte with Bay Leaf Creme Anglaise

a well deserved glass of vino and dessert

And then...

Magalista Soap

When I looked at the date of my last post, I had conflicting emotions. First I thought to myself, whoa, it's been awhile, tangled with the feeling of really? That was just in January? 
Prunella is almost full grown, coming up on 8 months. The two blueberry bushes, named after my parents are starting to blossom and I'm feeling a great need to cut my hair.

My latest crush, Prunella

It's spring and my upcoming vacation has set me on a new time clock. It's called: it's time to get out of town and restart. Two delicious weeks in Belize cannot come soon enough.

Mauricio, Jody & I squished in a photo booth together at Taste!

I like change probably more than the average person. Last year was enough change for three lifetimes, and I should take it easy, but I'm not one to just sit and wait.
Call me impatient, overly eager, or just lucky, but I've found a great match career wise.

People know that I am an incredibly hard worker and it's nice to be truly needed at work. The kind of appreciation usually falls in the "thank god for those volunteers" kind of mentality. That is the kind of need I'm feeling now, so much so, that I have an intern helping me out. And you are fabulous Erich!
I'm on this kick to try and appreciate where I am in the present moment, not allowing my future self to critique everything.

Being present may be the most difficult thing to do. Not thinking of the future, not thinking of money and bills, appointments or feeling the need to keep up with friends and family. I think kids do this best, living in the moment that is. Can you imagine if you were able to preview your life at age 8 and see what was ahead? We'd all hop on trains and get the hell out of town.

And holy smokes I'm co-chair of Seattle Slow Food! "Well that didn't take long to get up to your elbows in this organization did it?" Nothing truer could have been spoken, said long time family friend and creator of Seattle Slow Food, Gerry Warren.
I'm honored and thrilled to be apart of this awesome organization, and my learning curve is STEEP. There is a mountain of work to be done as co-chair, more than a full time job, but like a shark that needs to move to stay alive, I'm definitely alive and on the move. The Mangalista soap in the above photo was given to me by the one and only, Heath Putnam. The man who brought over the Wooly Pigs from Austria. We had a very interesting dinner together at Serious Pie in Seattle, where we talked pig- slow pig and ideas to bring people and mangalista together. A butchering class? Make your own pancetta or bacon together? We shall see. Meanwhile, there is a lot of cooking and wine making to be done. Enough of this sitting around and day dreaming...