Cantinetta Luca’s Meat Room
By Elaine Giuliano
Local lovers of all things porcine gathered last Friday at Cantinetta Luca in Carmel for Chef Jason Balestrieri’s La Maialata IV: Celebration of the Pig. Maialata means pork festival in Italian, and for one evening only, Chef Balestrieri hosted a revelry dedicated to the many succulent delights we owe to the pig.
The evening started with a flight of three Italian wines selected by sommelier Bernabe De Luna for the occasion. One of the most notable was the Kellerei Terlan “Terlaner” Alto Adige 2010, a proprietary blend of pinot bianco, chardonnay and sauvignon blanc with a great balance of spice, fruit and acid, as well as a crisp finish.
The wine paired beautifully with a bruschetta with pork liver, caramelized onions and balsamic vinegar. The very generous serving of liver was rich and velvety but still somewhat chunky, maintaining the integrity of both texture and pork flavor.
Other appetizers included arancini—little fried balls of rice with speck and fontina in the center, served in a napkin nest; housemade cotechino sausage with Umbrian lentils and housemade salumi. (Not to be confused with salami, which is just one type of salumi, salumi is the Italian term for any type of cured meat.)
The salumi was sliced to order and lovingly plated in perfect rows or folded like silk napkins on a wooden board. It included the Mortadella al Tartufo—a union of truffles and the pigs that might have hunted for them—and perfectly spiced Genovese salami.
A second course of ravioli made with braised pork cheeks and served in a pork reduction can only be described as pillows of porcine perfection. Light and well seasoned, the pork cheek filling had the texture of pulled pork, bursting with flavor.
From a seat overlooking the open kitchen, it was possible to watch some of the house pizzas going in and out of the wood-burning brick oven. They included a pizza layered with paper-thin disks of salami cotto, and the intriguing cornetto—pizza dough rolled around mozzarella and fontina and made into the shape of a horn, then baked and topped with sliced prosciutto and a small green salad.
Chef Balestrieri could be seen personally tossing individual servings of risotto with black truffle and cotechino sausage.
The pork belly, braised sous vide, was tender with a crisp seared top and complemented perfectly by braised apples and cabbage. It paired well with the Insoglio “Del Cinghiale” Toscana. “Del cinghiale” means “the boar”—and fittingly, the star of the evening was right there on the label.
Catering to the true pork lover, other main courses included more than one form of the meat, such as a dish of roasted pork loin and belly, and a braised pork shoulder with ham and potato gratin.
While vegetables might seem like an afterthought at such a carnivorous event, the greens served at La Maialata artfully elevated their main ingredients just as the other menu items thrust the pork to the forefront. Meat, however, still ruled the night: the broccolini was spiked with spicy calabrese salami and lemon and the Brussels sprouts, with pancetta and hazelnuts.
For those who still had any room for dessert, a cheese plate, tiramisu, pumpkin cake and olive oil gelato were among the options to round out the meal.
All in all, La Maialata IV coaxed out an abundance of nuances of porcine deliciousness. Both rustic and refined, it was a truly memorable feast.
Cantinetta Luca
Dolores between Ocean and Seventh Aves.
Carmel
831.625.6500
cantinettaluca.com
About the author
At Edible Monterey Bay, our mission is to celebrate the local food culture of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties, season by season. We believe in sustainability, and we believe everyone has a right to healthful, clean and affordable food. We think knowing where our food comes from is powerful, and we hope our magazine, website and newsletters inspire readers to get to know and support our local growers, fishers, chefs, vintners and food artisans.
