Hello all and, welcome to my chef’s blog. I have been looking forward to getting this blog started for a while now, and I am excited to actually post an entry. Since the 51 Lincoln website redesign has been launched I figured it was time to start the blog as well.
When I think about the food at 51 Lincoln, and the ethic behind the restaurant overall, tradition, innovation, creativity, and craft are the words that come to mind. Food tradition in American culture has changed so much in the past fifty years that there are many people that don’t really understand how food is grown and produced. In my mind understanding and respecting where our food comes from can help people make informed choices about how they interact with the planet.
A perfect example of old food tradition is Charcuterie, which is the preserving, curing, and smoking of meats to create many varied types of foods. This craft works very well with pork and particularly well with the whole animal. The 200 pound hog that is featured here will be used primarily for charcuterie with the exception of the racks which will be a roasted and served with fresh chanterelle mushrooms and rainbow Swiss chard. In my experience people that have not seen a whole animal in person react with a little bit of shock, or disbelief, then they start to ask questions about where the different cuts come from.
Sous chef Max Burns with the Hog
This hog will be used to make Tasso ham, prosciutto, American style smoked ham, brown sugar smoked bacon, head cheese (which probably deserves its own entry), and of course some nice chorizo sausage. Some of these items will take over two months to create. If anyone is interested in learning more about the items that we serve at the restaurant of would like recipes please send me an email.
Until next time, eat local real food with great friends.