Pig's Head at Alla Spina, Philadelphia

Redneckhunter's brother came to visit and flew into Philadelphia airport, so we picked him up and immediately took him to Alla Spina for dinner. We sat in the "lounge" area, and the whole place was an entirely different atmosphere from brunch.  Much more bar-like with low lights, low-key hip-hop.

As soon as the waitress (the same one we had at brunch incidentally) told us that night's special was a pig's head for 2 served with thick cut toast and a blueberry reduction, we all knew what we were having for dinner.

We got that along with some starters -- homemade pretzels (served in a wooden cute piggy bowl) with beer cheese dipping sauce, rabbit terrine, and poutine with guinea hen ragu. The prices were similar to the brunch prices, so totally reasonable. Redneckhunter and his brother naturally ordered some sampling flights, and we settled in.

The starters were good (if I would have one complaint, it would be that I wished there were more cheese curds on the poutine), but the pig's head was absolutely heavenly!  The meat was falling off tender, juicy, with just enough gooey cartilage to be delicious but not fatty.  It went well with the wonderful sticky gooey sweet and tartness of the blueberry reduction. Even the toast was buttery and divine. I picked that poor piglet's head apart, but it was the perfect size for 3 people to share. 

Alla Spina
1410 Mt Vernon St
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215-600-0017

Cooking Trotters

Redneckhunter brought home a big bag of pig trotters from Double Brook Farm, so we spent a lazy Saturday cooking them one weekend.  This involved first boiling them -- along with onions, herbs, garlic -- for about 4 hours.  This yielded a delicious pork broth, which we saved of course!  Then smoking with hickory for another 2 1/2 hours.  They were already falling off the bone after the boiling, but the smoking really made all the cartilage nice and gooey and gelatinous.

Tröegs Beer Tasting Menu at Bluegrass Tavern, Baltimore

After attending a Dogfish Head beer dinner at Bluegrass Tavern last year, I was excited when they announced a Tröegs beer dinner held a few weeks ago.
Even better, Chef Patrick Morrow planned a nose to tail meal using a heritage pig he recently acquired. The breed he used was a Large Black, sourced nearby, which was over 300 pounds.

We started with an assortment of piggy snacks at the bar while enjoying a pint of Tröegs Pale Ale.
Already on the bar were bowls of housemade pork rinds.
Chef then brought a plate of sous vide pork with mustard. I've always been a fan of Chef's skill with sous vide technique, and this pork was exactly why. It was juicy and flavorful, really celebrating the pure taste of the pig. Will a small dollop of mustard, it was just wonderful.

I then tried a few dishes made with the more "nasty bits". On small toothpicks sticking from a small pig, there were chunks of kidney with a pearl onion. I'm still a little neutral to kidney, but these were good.
He also brought out yummy pig heart tacos, using sliced beets in place of the tortilla. This lightened the dish, and good thing, as dinner was really yet to start.


The last bar snack was pork skirt steak marinated in Dr. Pepper. It had a similar consistency to beef, and with the marinade, it was delicious.
We then made it to our tables, and started with a massive charcuterie plate accompanied by some housemade pickles and whole grain mustard.
It included chicken liver mousse, pork rillette, bockwurst, andouille, sopressata, speck ham, tasso ham, bacon jam, and trotter terrine.

My favorite was the chicken liver.
The second course was hog's head ragu with spinach parpadelle, shaved gran queso, and preserved lemon gremolata and accompanied by a glass of Dreamweaver Wheat beer. The lemon contributed a sourness that really elevated the dish.

Course three was a massive slab of crispy pork belly on a bed of Anson Mills blue grits, pickled pear and sauce foyot. Foyot sauce is hollandaise sauce with a meat glaze, which was in this case, bacon. We drank the Hopback Amber with this dish. Chef noted that this breed of pig was particularly fatty, and it showed in the pork belly's marbling.

The fourth course was a sous vide pork loin wrapped in bacon with sunchoke puree, sunchoke chips and a rosemary bruised pineapple. It reminded me of ham with pineapple. We drank Tröeg's Nugget Nectar, which was my favorite beer of the night.

For dessert, we had a Tommenator cheese souffle with brown butter ice cream. This was accomanied by a glass of Tröegenator which was made for this course as the cheese is made using Tröegenator beer's yeast and sediment.

Our Annual Au Pied De Cochon Dinner & The Tête De Cochon

Fougoo, Redneckhunter & I have loved our dinners at Montreal's Au Pied De Cochon going on for 4 years now. This year, we rounded up a several cousins from NYC to join us, which meant. . . more food!
I've had been eying the Tête de Cochon on their menu since we started planning our Montreal visit, so even though the APDC menu said it was a dish designed for 2, I knew that if we had 6, we would be able to tackle it.
More on that later. We started with a set of foie gras cromesquis - the deep fried cubes of liquid foie gras. You just pop the whole piece in your mouth, and when you bite, it's a wonderful splash of foie gras.


This year, we opted to not have wine with dinner. Instead Redneckhunter and Stacey ordered APDC's own house beer, while Xtine and I ordered some cocktails. We both a lemon-lime slush with vodka, and I ordered a very fresh raspberry mojito- both great for the heat of July.

Of course, it was imperative we order our compulsory plate of foie gras poutine- duck fat fries, foie gras gravy, fresh local cheese curds, and a slab of seared foie gras. It still is a perfect summation of APDC's outrageous take of Quebecois food.

We shared a very generous order of beef tartare. It was good, not quite as good as the one we had at Le Quartier Général earlier in the weekend, but good.

To prevent meat overload, Stacey wanted us to order some veggies, so we got a cone of wonderful deep fried zucchini blossoms.


Redneckhunter wanted again this year to get APDC's plateau of fresh seafood. I would say this year's platter was better than last year's. It was loaded with items like oysters, clams, mussels, razor clam, small snails, squid, conch, and fried cod. It came with housemade tartar and mignonette sauces.

Picking the small snails out of their shells with a toothpick reminded me of eating snails at a Chinese restaurant when I was young.

Since it was the first time for a few members of our dinner party, we ordered the Duck in a Can.
It's presented with a piece of toast and celery root puree on a plate. Then, the can is brought tableside. It is loaded with duck, foie gras, cabbage cooked with lardons, and a balsamic venison-based glaze.

The can has been heated, and is opened up a tableside and it's contents are poured onto the plate.
The combination of all those flavors and textures are just so spectacular. We did not get this the last time we ate at APDC, so it was like the return of an old friend.


A repeat from last year's visit was the APDC Lobster Roll. Served up in a toasted brioche, it was packed with lobster, cheese curds, lettuce, mayo with pieces of foie gras on top drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

The last entree was the Tête de Cochon. It is the whole head of a small pig slow roasted with herbs. Our was accompanied by a large lobster, it's head stuck in the pig's mouth, and then the pig's tongue sticking from the lobster's head. To the side was a pot of low cooked root vegetables and the generous lobster tail. Slathered over the eyes of the pig like a blindfold was APDC mashed potatoes, made with large amounts of cheese curds.

The meat from the pig's head was so tender, the gentlest push of a fork would peel off the meat and skin. Everyone got to try the wonderful cheeks, jowls, and ears. Redneckhunter & I both had an eye- which had the texture of a firm gelee with a small pop like a pea on the inside. The flavor was all pork- so good.
At first we figured that they surely would not leave the brain in, but no, APDC had served the pig's head in it's entirety. We dug into the delicious brain which had the consistency of egg yolk or firm tofu. Xtine was hesitant to try it, but once she did, she had seconds.
As you can see, we picked the whole skull clean. I think we may have terrified people near our table especially when we devoured the brain.

We certainly could not leave without dessert. We ordered the Dark Chocolate 'Pot de crème', the pecan pie, and an item we have not had since our first dinner there, the Pudding Chômeur.
Fougoo mentioned that she had eaten so much food our first trip up, that she had no recollection of trying the Pudding Chômeur, but since she paced herself well this night, she really enjoyed it. It is basically a hot maple syrup soup with a biscuit floating in it- a classic Quebecois dessert.

We hope next time we go up to Au Pied De Cochon to get the lamb for 4. Can't wait.


536 ave Duluth est
Montréal, QC H2L 1A9
(514) 281-1114

Independence Day

4th of July weekend found us at Au Pied de Cochon in Montreal feasting on a Tête de cochon with side of lobster. More details on our annual meal there to come.

A Second Eden Center Food Safari

We did another mini Eden Center food safari this past weekend. This time, Fougoo and Redneckhunter tagged along.
We started at Cho Cu Saigon, a Vietnamese Chinese restaurant. We ordered their Roast Pig, and we were told not to mistake it for the roast pork. The pig came out chopped up with amazing thick and delicious pieces of crispy skin.
Redneckhunter also wanted to try Cha Gio (Vietnamese eggrolls), and the ones at Cho Cu were great- nice thin crispy skin.

Our second stop was for Banh Mi, Vietnamese sandwiches. We went to the Nhu Lan Sandwich Shop.
When you first enter, the place smelled of stinky tofu. We ordered a No. 1 sandwich with Vietnamese coldcuts. It was amazing. Their bread was chewy and delicious. Fougoo noted also that the bread was buttered as well.
I got a white gourd drink which was interesting- not great.

Our last stop was Thang Tong. We ordered their Banh Xeo, or Vietnamese crepe. It was made of thin crisp dough loaded with pork and shrimp and filled with bean sprouts and mung bean. We dipped it into fish sauce and chile sauce. It was really nice- reminded me of the south Indian dosa.

Eden Center is so big that we expect to have enough for a few more of these food safaris in the next few months.

The first Eden Center safari here.

Cho Cu Saigon
6763 Wilson Blvd
Ste 6D

Nhu Lan Sandwich Shop
6763 Wilson Boulevard

Thanh Tong
6795 Wilson Boulevard
Falls Chuch, VA

Wisconsin Boys Weekend 2009 Part 3- Whole Roast Pig

The centerpiece meal of Boys Weekend up in Wisconsin this year was a whole roast pig. It was the first time for the group to try to cook such a large amount of meat, but we went into it enthusiastically. Our host, Thayer ordered a whole pig up at the local market, Stone Ridge in Wautoma, WI.

It was a little larger than suckling, but no too large. The pig had a "tramp stamp" indicating it was from Wisconsin. We started with a nice meat rub on it and it sat overnight in the cooler.

First thing next morning, we started working on the fire pit. We butterflied the animal, and secured it between two grates, and started cooking.
We had some issues with the pit firing up some, so I think the temperature got a little to hot early in the cooking process. As we got used to managing the pit, we were able to control the temperature in the latter part of the cooking process.

When the pig was finished, we unfortunately lost the skin to our early difficulties with temperature control, but once we started digging in, the meat was spectacular.
At first, we started carving up the meat, but the group collectively started just gathering around the animal, eating various parts straight off the table. It was all very primal- men eating meat with bare hands.
I happily shared a foot and part of the head with my friend Dan.

When we carved up the pork for later in the day, I decided to try my hand at creating a pig dip. Inspired by the vinegar style of dip from North Carolina, I whipped together a mix of the available spices in some apple vinegar and behold, we had some yummy pig dip.
Yes, there is a part 4.

After the party's over...

I just had to share this awesome photo from Debbie of the carnage from our wedding...

And a shout-out and thank you to the pig master himself -- Wes Moon of Party King Caterers! It was amazing!

Fougoo's Wedding Reception

Sorry all for the lack of updates. Fougoo just got married. Congrats to her and Redneckhunter.
For dinner, they got a whole roasted pig. I ate a whole foot and some cheek meat. Yum.

Roast Suckling Pig at Amada, Philadelphia

Last weekend, Fougoo, Redneckhunter, our Jersey friends, and I went to Jose Garces' restaurant Amada in Philadelphia. We planned on trying his Cochinillo Asado, the whole roasted suckling pig.
It was served with grilled green onions, herbed fingerling potatoes, garbanzo beans & spinach, and, Redneckhunter's favorite, rosemary white beans.
They brought out the whole pig to present to our table, head and all, and then proceeded to carve the meat and skin for us. When asked by our server, if we wanted the head, our group said, "Of course".
The meat of the suckling pig was delicious, much more tender than that of an adult pig, and I fear I might have eaten a square foot of the skin.
However, the meat from the pig's cheeks and head was even more tasty- our table ate the head clean.
Before the pig was served, we also tried a large variety of the tapas dishes offered at Amada.
They started with flat crackers with a really nice tuna dip.
We ordered a mix plate of cured Spanish meats, marinated olives, and some nice Manchego cheese.
One of my favorite tapas dishes is Boquerones, or white anchovies. Other highlights from out meal were, the Almejas con Chorizo, clams with chorizo in a nice saffron broth, and the Mollejas con Guisantes, sweetbreads with a nice chestnut parpadelle.

Hands down, the pig was the highlight. Amada's atmosphere was a bit too trendy for me- there were definitely some hot chicks & douchebags dining on small dishes. The roast suckling pig felt more real and unpretentious to us, and definitely warrants a return again someday.

217-219 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia PA 19106
(215)625-2450