Zingerman's May/June 2016 Newsletter

8/17/2019 Zingerman's May/June 2016 Newsletter

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ISSUE # 256 MAY-JUNE 2016

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ARI: How did you get involved with smoking? How did you getinvolved with Nueske's?

MIKE ZOROMSKI: I was so young and foolish back in ‘83 whenI was asked if I wanted to work here, that I had no clue of what I was getting into. But what I do remember was that everything thatBob and Jim Nueske (sons of founder, Robert “R.C” Nueske), andmy brother Jeff taught me about smoking this product stuck withme. Even back then it seemed like I had a knack for doing it, butI was young and still wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, so I left toget back into the building trade.

After fifteen years in construction, Jeff asked me if I wanted tocome back. He needed someone to tend the smokehouses, so Icame back and it was amazing. Everything that I was taught in1983 came right back to me, almost as if I hadn’t left. I knew I was where I belonged, and I took it very seriously. I was going to makethese smokehouses my own. Soon I started to see that each onehad their own personality, and I knew I needed to figure themout so that the all the products came out looking and tasting thesame every time.

ARI: What are some of the things that go into building a greatsmokehouse?

MIKE: A controlled heat source, which distributes and dispersesthe heat and smoke evenly through the product, and a good con-sistent draft throughout the house that you have control of witha good damper system.

ARI: Many consumers love bacon but don't really understand thedetails of the smoking process. I know some of the details will beproprietary, but can you take us novices through the process ofsmoking?

MIKE: There are three basic cycles in almost every smoke pro-cess. There is a drying cycle, where you might have more of anopen damper setting with smoke, and you slowly bring up thetemperature. Then there are some critical meat temperatureranges that you need to get through in a certain amount of timefor food safety reasons. During that time you would have a moreclosed damper to hold the heat and humidity in, and you are get-ting a lot of smoke penetration into the meat. I have looked atthe product during these early cycles, and you never believe thatthe product will end up with the beautiful deep color that it doesat the end, but the smoke and flavor is getting in throughout thenight. The last cycle in this long process is to start bringing upthe smokehouse temperatures slowly to reach your final meat

temperature. I like to use this time to put my final touches on thefinish color, adding more smoke or adjusting the dampers. Thereis a science behind what really happens during the whole smokeprocess and there is always something new to learn.

ARI: What are some of the things that distinguish artisan smok-ing the way you do it at Nueske's from the commercially smokedmeats that people are used to buying in the supermarket?

MIKE: Our competitors probably think we are nuts when we keepbuilding single truck houses. They think the way to increase pro-

duction is to build fifteen truck houses and mass-produce. Well,that’s not the way to hold onto what we have done for 80-some years. We use real Applewood logs in our houses; they use smokeinjectors that burn wood sawdust, or even liquid smoke thattastes fake. We have a 24-hour cycle to get that full flavor; theirprocess is about half that. Our houses are seasoned with a year's worth of smoke on the walls; theirs are cleaned every day. Youcould probably run product through ours without putting any wood on and they would end up with more smoke flavor than anormal cycle with wood at one of those other places. That specialattention that each rack gets in our houses is something that nomass-producing smokehouse could ever duplicate.

ARI: Are there seasonal differences in the smoking?

MIKE: Yes, very much so. In the cold winter months, you haveto control the draft more. The air is dry and it wants to get upand out, and if you don’t make those adjustments, you could end

up with lighter colored meats. Then when the cold nights switchto the spring thaw and the frost turns to dew, we again makeadjustments. Then comes the heat and humidity of the summer.Thunderstorms are tricky; they are unpredictable and usuallybring a quick change in temps outside. Then, when the summerair starts to change to fall, and at the beginning there is a lot ofdew, you start to see the differences again, then when the dewswitches back to frost again, the draft in the houses start to speedup, and then we are back to winter. If I had a choice as far ashow the houses best perform, I would pick the winter, because we have more control over the air flow in the houses.

ARI: Nueske's has long used the applewood. Have you smoked with hickory? How are they different?

MIKE: I have not used hickory here at Nueske’s. I have triedproducts that were smoked with hickory and I do like the flavor,but it doesn’t compare to applewood. Applewood has a muchsweeter flavor and produces a deeper golden color. Hickory isa much harder wood that produces a bitter nut, so I think thedifferences in smoke flavor are similar to the fruit they produce;not that hickory smoke is bitter, but the oils that are trapped inthe wood from a tree that produces an apple compared to thatof a nut.

ARI: With the new cherrywood smoked bacon...was it hard tolearn to work with a new wood?

MIKE: It’s funny how much your past helps you in everything youdo. I spent a lot of time with my dad logging, making pulp and

firewood, and all that time he would teach me about the differenttypes of wood we would be working with. One of the trees we had worked with a lot in our area was the wild cherrywood we nowuse here. The wild cherrywood is a lot different from wood thanapplewood; it is a solid but light wood, with a closed grain and a very bitter berry. When we were kids we called it a choke cherry.

When we decided to try it for our cherrywood smoked bacon, Iknew it would probably burn away faster than Applewood does.So on my very first try in our smokers, I figured I might have touse a little bit bigger size piece of wood than I do with applewood, and I was right on. We use that much all the time now andthe color is very good. A little lighter than applewood, which Ithought it would be, but by using the bigger pieces we get very

close the color of our applewood bacon.

I think that having that knowledge that was passed on to mefrom my dad really helped me, and it still does every day whenI’m picking wood for the houses. I go through and select only thehighest-quality wood and the rest goes home to my fireplace.

ARI: Nueske's products are clearly very special. But so is thecompany. What's it like working at Nueske's?

MIKE: It is pretty special to work for a company that producesthe products we do, and it has always been like working for fam-ily. I always admired Bob’s toughness on how he ran this com-pany, yet I considered him a friend. It is no different with Tanya,she too is my friend, and I would never let them down. It’s quitean honor to have the title of Smokemaster of Nueske Meats.

ARI: What else should we know about your work at Nueske's?MIKE: I now have three guys working for me in the smokehouses,including my son Matt. I also now have Steve and Dallas, and Icouldn’t be more proud of the job they are doing. Every day itseems like they learn more and more about these smokehouses.It doesn’t take four guys to do this work right now; it’s about a twoand a half man job. But with expansion on the horizon, we needto train them now, so that when there are more smokehouses torun, the products will continue to get the personal attention theyneed. These three guys have shown a lot of passion towards this job already, so it will be in good hands when I retire...someday.

ARI: Are you excited about coming to Camp Bacon?

MIKE: Yes and no. I never considered myself to be a very goodpublic speaker, but this bacon and my smokehouses are not hardto talk about. So I’ll try and pretend that I’m walking around and

giving a tour of my smokehouses.

An Interview with Mike Zoromski,

Smokemaster at Nueske’s

Pretty much every morning for the last 34 ½ years, the Deli kitchen crew has begun its day by cooking many pounds of Nueske’s

amazing applewood smoked bacon! The same can be said for the Roadhouse over the past 13 years. Their wonderful product

graces the menus at the Deli and the Roadhouse, shows up on sandwiches, in Bakehouse breads and Creamery pimento cheese.

It’s a regular feature in our Mail Order bacon of the month club. It’s safe to say that without Nueske’s, Zingerman’s would be a

very different place today!

It’s also safe to say that without the work of Mike Zoromski to design, build, and manage the artisan smokehouses in which all

that bacon gets smoked, Nueske’s would be a pretty different place as well. To get a look, so to speak, behind the smokehouse

door we’ve gotten Mike to make a rare public appearance at Camp Bacon this year! W hat follows is an interview with him, and a

chance to hear some behind-the-scenes, behind-the-smokehouse sense of what makes the Nueske's smoking so special. Come to

Camp Bacon 2016 and meet Smokemaster Mike in person!

Meet Mike Zoromski at Camp Bacon's Main Event,

June 4th, 8am - 4 pm!

June 1st-5th, 2016 zingermanscampbacon.com


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The first time I went to Montréal, many years ago, I was somewhat

shocked to discover that corned beef and pastrami were almostnonexistent on deli menus. The cornerstones of American deli eat-ing were pretty much persona non grata. When corned beef or pas-trami did show up on menus it was almost as an afterthought, listeddown in a corner somewhere, clearly not important enough to earnitself a prominent placement. Instead there was simply somethingthe locals referred to both reverently, and at the same time, mat-ter of factly, as "smoked meat." Smoked meat was it. Menus fea-tured smoked meat sandwiches, smoked meat Reubens, smokedmeat hash, smoked meat on, or in, just about anything else you canthink of. (One well-known spot even served smoked meat egg rolls.)Montréal is indisputably THE smoked meat city.

Corned beef, smoked meat, and pastrami all have their origins inpoverty. The core of Eastern European Jewish cooking in the secondhalf of the 19th century and in the early years of arrival in New Yorkand the rest of the United States was mostly one of poverty. Ryebread (much more affordable in northern and eastern Europe than

the comparatively costly wheat), herring and mamaliga (essentially,Romanian polenta), were a few of the staples of Eastern European Jewish eating. Most Jews arrived in North America with little in the way of finances. Corned beef and company were what poor peoplecould afford to purchase. When it came to cuts of meat, brisket (forcorned beef and smoked meat), and navel plate (for pastrami), wereall at the bottom of the list of desirability. In their natural state, allare tough, fairly fatty, hard to prepare, and far from graceful on thetable. To make either cut tender enough to serve, takes a good dealof effort. Long curing and long cooking combine to make otherwisestringy, tough meat as tender and tasty as can be. Low cost, a lotof work, wonderful flavor. Perfect products for people on limitedbudgets.

Legend has it that what’s now known as Montréal smoked meatstarted with the Lithuanian tradition of curing beef brisket. It’spickled like corned beef, then lightly spiced and lightly smoked, àla pastrami. Look at it as a continuum: corned beef on one end—notsmoked, not spiced; pastrami on the other—heavily smoked and

very spicy; smoked meat somewhere in the middle—a little smoked,a little spicy. At its best, like corned beef and pastrami, it’s prettydarned delicious. Schwartz’s in Montréal was always my favorite. Iordered mine “fatty,” old-school. Just a stack of fairly thickly slicedsmoked meat between two slices of rye with yellow mustard. Thebread, to be honest, wasn’t anything to write home about. But thesmoked meat was marvelously memorable.

Every time since then that I went back to Montréal, I made my pil-grimage to Schwartz’s to eat some smoked meat. And every timeon the way home, I’d lament that we simply could never find aMontréal Smoked Meat to sell in Ann Arbor that even came close toSchwartz's. USDA regulations made it impossible to import the realthing. And the folks in the States who were making it, while theirofferings were okay, they just didn’t have that “man I want moreright now!” kind of flavor and texture.

Until now! Finally, I feel like we have a smoked meat on hand atthe Deli that makes me want more. That stands, as it should, withour pastrami and our corned beef. The third leg in the deli world’striumvirate of terrific cured sandwich meats. Thanks to the Fuchsfamily who own the venerable Wagshal’s in Washington, DC, I cannow eat smoked meat as much as I like.

Bill Fuch’s seems to have had much the same experience I had inMontréal—while visiting the city for work, he too fell in love withsmoked meat. Over the years he’d go back and forth and neverfound anything at home in D.C. that even came close to what’dhe’d get when he was up in Quebec. Finally, he decided that he wasgonna figure it out for himself. He spent close to three years testing

recipes. I think he succeeded! What the Fuchs family are makingat Wagshal’s is darned delicious. So much so that we now have itregularly on the Deli’s menu.

The Wagshal’s smoked meat starts solely withprime beef—Bill’s adamant that that’s the only

beef good enough. They dry-age it for over amonth, which reduces the weight drasticallyand intensifies flavor significantly. Dry-aging

is what we do at the Roadhouse—a good fouror five weeks—to achieve that same effect. Up

until 50 years or so ago, it was the norm with allgreat butchers and steak houses. Unfortunately, very few placesstill stick with the old methods. To save money, they switched firstto “wet aging” (where the meat is trapped inside plastic and doesn’tlose much weight), or to no aging at all. Everyone in the industryknows it makes a big difference. It just costs more.

After the beef has aged, the Fuchs then coat the brisket in a dry16-ingredient spice rub, let it marinate for another month, and thensmoke it for about 12 hours. The result is excellent! Tender, smoky, abit spicy, but in a mellow sort of way. Really, it’s pretty fantastic. It’sgot plenty of fat on it, just the way I used to order it up in Montréal.If you were really old school, you’d stand back by the meat slicerand grab any fat that got trimmed off and pop it right in your mouth. As with prosciutto, bacon, or Iberico bellota ham, the fat is wherethe flavor is!

I still want to go to Montréal—it’s a beautiful city! But all I have todo now to get really great smoked meat is drive the ten minutesfrom my house to the Deli. Eat a smoked meat sandwich on-site if you like. Put it between two slices of the Bakehouse’s Jewish rye.Or try it on a Reuben, a #13, or any other sandwich on the menu. Alternatively, buy a pound (or two) to take home. If you do the lat-ter, be sure to heat it up before you serve so that all-important fat issoft, tender and succulent the way Bill Fuchs and a half a million orso people in Montréal love it best! Fortunately, now we won’t haveto fly all the way to Montréal to get it!

SMOKED MEAT MIGHT JUST BE THE

JEWISH EQUIVALENT OF BACON!! When I was a kid growing up in a kosher home, the only baconthey let us have was “beef bacon.” I’m not even sure which cut was used for it, but I don’t remember it being anything remark-able (which I suppose says a lot). Although it was probablymeant to pacify poor, deprived Jewish kids eating in kosherkitchens and living in a bacon-centric society, it didn’t work.Beef bacon was a sad ruse, a façade, a phony. I know now it was a bit like sending someone to a tanning parlor when theyreally longed to go the beach in Baja—nothing like the realthing and about as compelling as a trip to the post office.

But while eating this new arrival of Wagshal’s MontréalSmoked Meat and, at the same time, working to get readyfor this year’s Camp Bacon, it dawned on me that they couldhave given us a better alternative. One that might not havetotally erased the drive to be intimately up close with curedand smoked, salty, slightly sweet bacon, but may have actu-ally made the grade. See, a nice warm, really fatty, thick deli-cious, moist slice of this Montréal smoked meat provides, I would argue, the same sortof enticing, ethereal, nearlyerotic, eating experience asbacon does. It’s simultane-ously smoky, fatty, slightlysalty, rich, a teeny touchsweet, warm, melt-in-your-mouth marvelousness thatall of us expect from greatbacon.

It is, of course, a completelydifferent product. Beef bris-ket vs. pork belly. Sliced hotout of the steamer insteadof sizzled on the grill. And yet, I’m telling you, it brings that

same sort of culinary buzz. That “wow, man, I could eat thisstuff all day! can I have another piece please!” sort of impactthat bacon brings. The good news is that unless you’re on apork-free diet, you don’t have to choose—you can have both!One next to the other! In fact, now that I’m writing this, I thinkI’m going to have to test out a smoked meat sandwich withbacon on it. There’s a lot to be said, especially here in Ann Arbor, for the beauty of cross-cultural experiences!

Smoked Meat in the City The authentic Jewish answer to bacon?

June 1st-5th, 2016zingermanscampbacon.com

Adrian Miller is a culinary historian and a certifiedbarbecue judge. His book, Soul Food: The Surprising Storyof an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time won the2014 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Referenceand Scholarship. Adrian will speak on the subject of“Presidential Pork.”

Mark Essig has written op-eds and book reviews forthe New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and the SanFrancisco Chronicle. Mark will discuss his most recentbook, Lesser Beasts: A Snout-to-Tail History of the HumblePig.

Rolando Beramendi is the founder of Manicaretti,one of the world’s premier importers of fine Italian foods.He was instrumental in helping to bring Gianluigi Peduzziof Rustichella Pasta to Zingerman’s for a wonderful specialdinner in 2014. For Camp Bacon, Rolando will make hisfamous Spaghettoni o Penne Rustiche Primo Grano allaGricia.

Chef Sherry Yard began her culinary career at the venerable Rainbow Room. She is currently in the processof reviving and revitalizing the iconic Helms Bakery inLos Angeles, and will speak on the subject “Baking withBacon.”

Fred Bueltmann, aka the Beervangelist, is a vicepresident with New Holland Brewing. He will tells us how“Crafts Come Together Raising Bacon and Brewing Beer.”

Fidel Galano on “The mysteries and mastery of Cubanpork cooking.”

Ari Miller is the founder of Phildelphia’s 1732 Meats, which has taken the cured meat-loving crowd in the Cityof Brotherly Love by storm. Ari will attempt to answer the

question, “What’s a nice Jewish boy doing making bacon?”

Val Neff-Rasmussen oversees the sourcing for allnew meats sold at Zingerman's Mail Order. She shares what she learns from her travels in The Feed, a weeklynewsletter and blog that tells the stories of the secret lifeof the foods we sell and love. At Camp Bacon, she will offersome insight into the question: "What gives meat flavor?"

Chris Wilson currently serves as Director of theExperience and Program Design and the Program in African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian NationalMuseum of American History. Mr. Wilson will speak on thesubject of “Pork and African American Culture.”

Steve and Kirsty Carre of Swanbourne Market inPerth, Western Australia. The Carres are committed tobringing their patrons the best i n West Australian and farmdirect produce. Steve and Kirsty will talk about “Australia’s

Love Affair with Pork and Bacon.”Susan Schwallie and Karen Goldstein bring thenumbers behind the food. They draw on their expertiseas two of the country’s leading consumer statistics expertto share the latest pork- and bacon-related numbers fromthe marketplace. Who’s eating bacon? How much? How was that consumption changed? Susan and Karen have theanswers!

Mike Zoromski, smokemaster for Nueske’s ApplewoodSmoked Meats, started working for the smoked meatpurveyor in 1983, just one year after Zingerman’s startedusing Nueske’s bacon at the Deli. Mike will give us “A LookBehind the Smokehouse Door.”

Antonio Fiasche is co-founder (along with his father, Agostino) of ‘Nduja Artisans Salumeria, the culminationof five generations of Calabrian salumi makers. There’snothing in the world like ‘Nduja. It’s a unique, spreadable,

very spicy Calabrian pork salami that has been shown tobe dangerously addictive. After learning the recipe fromhis grandfather in Calabria, Antonio Fiaschi set to workcrafting this traditional spicy, spreadable southern Italyspecialty in Chicago.

Special Guest Appearance by John U. Bacon. Universityof Michigan alum John has been very busy for the past twodecades. Southeast Michigan natives will remember hisearly days as a journalist writing columns in the Ann ArborNews & the Detroit News.

Making its début on the Deli's #43 -Steve Muno's Montréal Reuben- Wagshal's Montréal smoked meat

brisket, Switzerland Swiss cheese,

Brinery sauerkraut & Russian dressing

on grilled bread.

You'll also have theopportunity to try it

on the Deli's Sandwich

of the Month in June! Out of retire-

ment for one month only: #46 Stan'sCanadian Hotfoot. see p.12

Main Event Speaker LineUp


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PORK: THE PERENNIAL DARK HORSE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATEBy Adrian MillerOur presidents, from George Washington to Barack Obama, have had their share of food fights. Idon't mean that they actually threw food at other people, but they have figuratively and self-con-sciously used to create and maintain their public image and wrest control of it from others whennecessary. It's astonishing how fervently the American public believes that what a president likes,and dislikes, to eat somehow opens a window on the presidential soul. This is why in recent presi-dential memory, we've learned how much Ronald Reagan loved jelly beans, how much George H.W.Bush hated broccoli, when Bill Clinton jogged to a McDonald's, how George W. Bush loves his barbe-cue and how Barack Obama likes to gulp down a good beer. The stakes can be high when using foodto craft a presidential persona because it all comes down to getting votes, and pork has played apivotal role in such endeavors.

You think I'm exaggerating? I offer as Exhibit 1 the case of President Martin Van Buren who wassuccessfully tarred by his political enemies as a French food-loving elitist who used golden uten-sils. President Van Buren's presidential rival, William Henry Harrison, drew a sharp contrast to theincumbent president by promoting himself as someone who loved "hog, hominy and hard cider"—a meal combination that appealed to the masses of common people. Harrison's negative politicalcampaign was so successful that he beat the incumbent Van Buren and won the presidency. It wasthe most serious case of political indigestion in presidential history. Though Harrison used pork forelectoral good or evil, depending upon your perspective, pork has not received as much presidentialpress as other proteins. That's mainly because pork has lost significant status in American mealssince colonial times, mainly due to the growing popularity of beef.

Pork had some early advantages over beef in terms of making a regular appearance on the diningtables of European colonists. Pigs are lower maintenance animals to raise than cattle. One can feedthem almost anything, they can forage for themselves in a variety of environments, they have a lotmore offspring than cattle, and almost every part of their bodies can be used for some purpose afterbutchering. For these reasons, though beef was more highly prized, pork was more regularly utilized

by colonists. Thus, in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, pork had a well-earned reputationfor being a subsistence-level meat, a consistent source of protein even in lean times. This doesn'tmean that all pork products were considered to be poverty food. Wealthy colonists relished eatinghams and pork shoulder as premium cuts of meat, and such preferences gave rise to the expression"eating high on the hog." This was reference to where these cuts of meat were located on the pig ascompared to bacon, ham hocks and the feet. It's no wonder that pork cemented its "common person"status in the American public's imagination, and that politicians recognized the benefits of lardingtheir public image with references to pork. After all, the masses were mostly eating pork, or couldrelate to eating pork, and that's where the votes where.

In terms of its culinary and political reputation, pork started to wane in the nineteenth century.Let's first look at pork's culinary status. Though beef was an uncommon treat on American tables

before the 1800s, it became more widely available and cheaper thanks to advances in cattle ranch-ing, industrial butchering and commercial transportation. Beef also became the food of successfulelites—an edible example of social aspiration. This only further marginalized pork's status as a pov-erty or subsistence food. As Harvey Levenstein wrote in Revolution at the Table:

"The supremacy of beef provided grist for the mills of those who complained that the middle-class

American diet was too restricted... The beef and potatoes syndrome was reinforced by a disdain for pork,

almost universally available in antebellum days. Here too, the middle class followed their social supe-

riors, who shunned fresh and salted pork and deigned only to eat an occasional slice of smoked ham.

Although its low price induced them to consume much more pork than it did the rich, in middle-class

eyes pork ranked far below not just beef, but lamb, poultry, and game as well."

Flip though the indexes of the existing cookbooks written by presidential chefs, and the latter pointmade by Levenstein is painfully true. Pork dishes usually get a few lines compared to the othermeats. Even the presidential barbecue book authored by Walter Jetton, Lyndon Johnson's barbecue-in-chief, only has a few pork recipes. Presidential food is at its best for state dinners at the WhiteHouse, and beef is the overwhelming centerpiece of such meals. Pork makes an occasional appear-ance, but it is something that is eaten more frequently during the president's private meals in theexecutive residence, out of the public spotlight.

In the nineteenth century, pork's reputation also took a political hit because it was associated withan unseemly political practice known as "pork barrel politics." In its earliest incarnation, the porkbarrel was literally a wood barrel full of salted pork that was stored for use as needed. Thoughmany associate its use with feeding enslaved people on plantations, the pork barrel was also usedon many farms and also to feed military personnel. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, thepork barrel became a metaphor in the 1870s for the pot of government money that is set aside topay for public projects. Soon, an odious practice arose in the U.S. Congress and state legislatures where elected officials were promised, in exchange for their votes, that money would be appropri-ated to pay for projects in the district they represented. The logic is that by pleasing their constitu-ents with such projects, the elected officials would get re-elected. This was very sound logic, formany elected officials enjoyed lengthy political careers based on their ability to spend governmentmoney in their district. Thus, "pork barrel politics" was born, and symbolized government abuseand waste. In time, people dropped "barrel" and "politics," and "pork" became short hand for badgovernment.

Despite the negativity thrown its way, pork has been able to rise to the culinary occasion.The following is a compilation of several great moments in presidential pork history:

An Insightful Examination ofPork and the Presidency!

FOOD WRITER ADRIAN MILLER MAKES A SPECIAL GUEST APPEARANCE AT CAMP BACON

January 1, 1842President Martin Van Buren begins annualtradition of serving roast pork at New Year'sDay receptions.

Circa December 1890Famed Kentucky cook Dollie Johnson, an African American woman, begins making sau-sage rolls (small sausages encased in pastry)—afavorite of First Lady Caroline Harrison.

Early 1920sPresident Warren Harding grubs on knock- wurst sausage and sauerkraut at stag parties hehosted at the White House for his buddies.

February 21, 1929President Herbert Hoover changes the regular White House breakfast to bacon and eggs fromthe sausage and wheat cakes served in theCalvin Coolidge administration.

March 1934"Winks," President Franklin Delano Roosevelt'sLlewellin setter eats all of the ham and eggsbreakfast set out for the White House resi-dence staff. Winks soon left the White House to"spend more time with his family." This event,along with others, cleared the way for Fala tobecome FDR's favorite dog.

May 8, 1939President Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, CrownPrince Frederik and Crown Princess Ingrid ofDenmark dine on hot dogs for lunch.

June 10, 1939President Roosevelt, Eleanor Roosevelt, KingGeorge VI and Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain

dine on hot dogs for lunch.

Circa December 1941President Franklin Delano Roosevelt andBritish Prime Minister Winston Churchill dineon sweet and sour pig's feet at the WhiteHouse. Churchill was not too pleased with the"texture" of this delicacy.

Circa 1967 A ham prepared for a White House residencestaff dinner went missing. Mary Kaltman,President Lyndon Johnson's White House FoodCoordinator informed White House ChiefUsher J. B. West of this predicament. At first,the employees were suspected, but no one was implicated in the crime. A few monthslater, an awful smell emanated from the staffdining room, but no one could pinpoint thesource. Eventually, the White House engineersremoved the paneling from one of the diningroom walls to discover a decomposing hambone. Those involved quickly surmised thatsome rats must have dragged it off the tableand absconded with the ham.

December 1, 1975The organizers of the annual Salley (SouthCarolina) Chitlin Strut sent five pounds ofuncooked, frozen chitlins (pig intestines) toPresident Gerald Ford.

2000sPresident George W. Bush regularly gets take-out from his favorite Texas barbecue joints forthe ride on Air Force One from his ranch inCrawford, Texas back to Washington, D.C.

Getting a bit jaded by election politics? Ready for a fresh perspective? Like histor y, love to laugh,

appreciate good food? This article is for you! Adrian Miller will be presenting at this year’s 7th

Annual Camp Bacon. His subject: “Pork: The Perennial Dark Horse Presidential Candidate.” I’m

forecasting it will help put some of those less-than-inspiring presidential debates out of your

mind. And I guarantee you will know a lot more about pork and its historical presence in the

White House over the past 216 years.

I first met Adrian many years ago at the Southern Foodways Alliance symposium in Oxford,

Mississippi. Paul, Alex and I flew down the year before we were going to open the Zingerman's

Roadhouse. This was fall of 2002, and the theme that year was BBQ, something we were pretty

sure was going to be a key piece of our menu. And as high as my initial expectations might have

been, they were exceeded. The food, the people, the learning, and inspiration were all excep-

tional. I heard Adrian speak at the symposium that year, and then again a few years later after

he’d joined the board of SFA. He caught my attention with the depth of his historical knowledge,

and I laughed almost as much as I learned.

That trip was, in hindsight, a life-altering event. It was the beginning of a nearly 15-year long

relationship with an amazing non-profit, and a connection with a region of the country of

which, honestly, I’d previously known relatively little. Southern Foodways does fantastic workto bring together people of all backgrounds to study, share, and learn from the traditional

foodways of the American South. They’ve put subjects on the table like race and food, the

changing face of the South in the 21st century, the role of women, pop culture, and much more.

I’ve been to just about every symposium since.

It was with all of those fantastic foods and great people in mind that we decided to create Camp

Bacon as a fundraiser for SFA seven years ago. It seemed an appropriate way to help return the

generosity of spirit that we’d encountered there, and to help raise a bit of money to fund fur ther

work so that others around the country could benefit as well. If you don’t know much about

SFA, by all means log onto southernfoodways.org and do some scoping. The oral histories, the

short films – it’s all amazing! You can’t help but be engaged by their exceptional work.

You can also come to the 7th Annual Camp Bacon this year and hear what Adrian Miller has

to say. You might actually have already heard him—he’s been the guest speaker at two of our

11 annual African American Foodways dinners at the Roadhouse. I’ll never ever forget the feel-

ing the night he did his "Black Chefs in the White House" event on the same exact evening of

President Obama's first inauguration. When we’d set up the event n early a year earlier, neither

of us had much thought that then Senator Obama was likely to be nominated, let alone win the

general election. What a wonderful and inspiring evening! You might have read his great book,

Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One Plate at a Time. If you like food and

history, it’s highly recommended!

Adrian Miller is an attorney, food writer, and former Special Assistant to President Bill

Clinton. Adrian's first book, Soul Food: The Surprising Story of an American Cuisine, One

Plate at a Time, won the 2014 James Beard Foundation Book Award for Outstanding

Reference and Scholarship. Adrian's next book on African American presidential chefs will

be published in Spring 2017.

Meet Adrian Miller at Camp Bacon's Main Event, June 4th, 8am-4pm!


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ARI: You grew up in Spanish Harlem?

FIDEL GALANO: My dad was born in Cuba and my Mom in Puerto Rico. I was born and raised inNew York City’s Spanish Harlem community. I didn’t learn to speak English 'til I was in 2nd grade, 'tilI was maybe 5 or 6 years old, mostly because I did not have to. Everyone in my neighborhood spokeSpanish, including the mailman. I was always trouble, mostly because I was bored—I was unusuallysmart and articulate for a Spanish kid growing up in the middle of the ghetto. I was smart enough tohang out with the tough kids, and I knew if I could keep ‘em laughing I would be alright. They calledme “Fi” (“Fee”). I’m very lucky. I have a great life. I met my wife Nancy when she was 15. Our localpriest got my mom to send me to a Catholic retreat when I was 14 or 15. It was a place called GraceHouse at 108th Street, not too far from home. A real nice brownstone converted into a Catholic mon-astery and they lock you in for the whole weekend, which seemed like weeks to a teenager. So thispriest, Father Bill, he’s responsible for why I got out of the neighborhood. He went all out in trying tokeep me from getting in trouble and I have to say he really helped me. Even though he gave up on mefor a while and he did n’t believe me when he said I was gonna go back to school. Who would, when you consider I was in and out of school from the second grade on up and I completely dropped outin the 6th grade? Father Bill was blown away by my resilience when, at age 19, I told him I needed togo back to school so I could get my family out of the neighborhood. Years later, after getting a GEDand earning a Bachelor’s degree, I invited Father Bill to my business school graduation. Right before

taking a group photo at graduation he said, “Fi, you make me believe in God.”

I knew early on that I needed to get out of the neighborhood. A lot of my friends never made it out. I was 19, and Father Bill helped me get my GED. I really couldn’t read, but I took the GED book from hisoffice and I studied and studied and I passed. My friend scored just a few points lower than I did andhe didn’t pass. And our lives went in opposite directions. Right after getting a GED I went to college atSUNY Binghamton. I really struggled that first summer as I was taking prep courses. I was failing andthinking about giving up and going back to the City. But then I realized I knew what to do, becauseI figured college was like working. I’d been working since I was twelve and I knew that work meantget there early, work really hard, don’t watch the clock, and make the boss happy. So going to classand studying was like going to work, and listening to the professor was just like listening to the boss,including making the boss happy. So I applied myself as if I was working a job and I never lookedback. In my first semester I got a perfect grade point average. I was featured in a school newsletterand I won an award. I went on to do very well, graduating with honors from SUNY Binghamton’sThomas J. Watson School of Engineering and given an offer to go to graduate school on a fellowship.

ARI: What about the food?

FIDEL: I can’t remember a time in my life that food wasn’t significant for us. Pork always representedprosperity. When there wasn’t food, specifically pork, it was always because things were bad. We hadmany hard times. Like when my parents got divorced. All I knew when I was a kid was we got evictionnotices and I never knew if we were OK. But one thing I knew is that if we had pork, such as Pernil(slow-roasted marinated pork shoulder) or Chuletas (pork chops) with our staple rice and beans,then I knew that, for the moment at least, we were OK.

In our culture my dad didn’t hug you to reassure you or say anything about what was happeningfinancially and my mother wasn’t gonna tell a seven-year old kid about her stresses. But the indica-tors were always there, so if we were gonna have pork, life was gonna be ok. To us, pork was anindex to prosperity and social enjoyment.

There are many traditional and religious holidays in both the Cuban and Puerto Rican communities where pork is the main dish used to celebrate. All the Saint’s days, Santa Barbara, San Lazaro, and

Easter and Christmas. Lent was one of the only times I remember not having pork during a celebra-tion, and that’s because we could not for religious reasons. So instead we have fish fries with theother fillers we normally had with pork, yucca chips, fried plantains and fried bananas (maduros).

When things were good in general, there was this fantastic, amazing piece of meat: pork. It was madein many different ways. From a Lechón (roasted suckling pig), to a Pernil. The idea that we couldmake a pork shoulder was soothing and comforting, because it meant things were good. When we were kids and we knew there was a pig cooking, we knew that there’d be all these derivative prod-ucts coming. In addition to the main dish, the Lechón, we knew that Morcilla (blood sausage made with rice, culantro, cilantro, garlic, and chillies), Pasteles (plantain or yucca root patty filled withroasted pork chunks) and Pastelillos (flour-based flavor-infused turnover filled with roasted porkchunks, capers, and any other goodies you wanted to add), would follow. We knew having a pig wasprosperous because so many dishes would be made from one, and everyone in the neighborhood was the same way. We had one African-American family and one American Italian family in theneighborhood, and even they wanted Cuban and Puerto Rican pork dishes.

ARI: Is all that carrying on to your kids here in Ann Arbor?

FIDEL: There’s a real nexus to what exists today. My mother, my grandmother, and many of my Aunts were known for their food, considered amazing cooks that were often hired by others. Their lovefor cooking was part of them (the soul) and so was maintaining their reputations. When we preparedand cooked food, especially for the holidays, it was to show love to your family and friends. Thatmeans you go the extra mile, you give it that extra something that only the heart and soul can give.I inherited their passion and abilities for cooking and have carried on with my family here in Ann Arbor, even though we are many miles and many dollars away from what I had growing up. My kidsget just as excited as I used to about Cuban and Puerto Rican cooking. Although we are now eco-nomically removed from that poverty that I grew up with, my kids have been exposed to many of thecooking traditions and approaches I grew up on. Especially cooking pork and some of the amazingCuban and Puerto Rican foods I was exposed to as a boy. So if you talk to my three children, who allgrew up in Ann Arbor, are doing great with top educations, and pursuing advanced degrees, they willsay many of the things I said as a boy when it comes to Cuban and Puerto Rican food. For example, when I say that I’m making a cultural pork dish, like Pernil, they all get really excited because theyknow what it means. Not only do they know the main dish will be filled with great flavor and accom-panied by other cultural foods (Cuban black beans, saffron rice and fried yucca root), they also knowthe derivative dishes to follow, such as Pasteles or Patelillos. They love our cultural food, and thatis what they crave. They never beg me to take them anywhere or anything like that, even though my wife and I have exposed them to some of the best culinary cuisine. They want me to make food athome! Now that I’ve slowed down a little with cooking, my daughter says, “Come on dad, I’ll do allthe work! Let’s cook!” It’s wonderful to see how they’ve tied an emotional prosperity to our culturalpork dishes, just like I tied them to financial prosperity as boy growing up in poverty.

ARI: What are some of the dishes?

FIDEL: To me, roasted pork is the key. You acquire the pork, wash it in white vinegar and prepare itas you need to (family traditions and/or religious traditions). We always cleaned it really carefully.Then we’d strategically poke holes in the meat to get it to breathe the flavors in. Crush garlic, cumin,black pepper, Spanish paprika, and other dry ingredients to create a dry rub. Then we add extra vir-gin olive oil and wine or vinegar to make a pesto. Cut nice-sized holes, and insert crushed or wholegarlic cloves into them along with a heaping of the pesto. When we made a whole pig or a shoulder,

an interview with

FIDEL GALANOFor me, one of the beauties of Ann Arbor is the plethora of powerfully interesting, creative,

cool people we have here in town. Many I get to work with, others we buy from, and still

others we get to cook for. Fidel Galano is one of the latter. I first met him fifteen years or

so ago. We did a day of ZingTrain work, teaching our approach to Servant Leadership at

the local EPA office. His official role here in Ann Arbor is as IT Director of the EPA’s National

Vehicle & Fuels Emissions Laboratory. We connected during the teaching, and it turned

out, he was also a customer. Over the years I’ve happily seen him at the Roadhouse, the

Deli, and the Bakehouse, and he’s always told me how great his family’s Cuban cooking is.

Fidel grew up in Spanish Harlem. He’s an amazing guy; a highly inspiring success stor y.

Never one to pass up an opportunity for good learning and good eating, I’ve been sug-

gesting for about a decade now that we bring Fidel in for a special Cuban American din-

ner at the Roadhouse. Finally, ten years later, it’s happening. In July, the Roadhouse’s

annual BBQ dinner will feature Fidel’s family cooking. And, of equal import, it will feature

Fidel, the man himself. He’ll share stories of growing up in Spanish Harlem, his mother’s,grandmother’s, and family’s (mostly aunts) recipes, the emotional connection with that

cooking in the Cuban & Puerto Rican community, and the significance of pork in his fam-

ily. I guarantee you will eat well, and leave wishing that you, too, had been born Cuban.

The man is about as apasionado (passionate) as anyone I’ve ever met!

Fidel has also offered to speak and serve some amazing Cuban pork at Camp Bacon.

Which means that you have two chances to taste and savor his incredible cooking, and

two opportunities to meet the man himself and hear part of his culinary and culturally

inspiring story. I have a feeling that Camp Bacon would be worth coming to just to hear

him tell his story, and preach the positive attributes of Cuban pork cooking. Let me just

say that of all the great people I’ve interviewed over the last three plus decades, Fidel

might just be the most passionate about great pork of all of them! Here’s a little taste of

what I’m talking about.


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ANN ARBOR’SKING OF CUBAN PORK

there were all these supporting things around it. You had to have slow-cooked black beans, red rice,double-fried plantains and yucca (boiled or fried). Everything has to be supported by the pork, becauseit is added in some way. We used pork to flavor almost everything, even the beans and the rice. You start with some pork belly where you almost burn it dark brown and then you deglaze it and then it becomesthe base flavor of your beans and yellow rice. If you did not have a whole hog, then you make a porkshoulder (Pernil). Pernil is the poor man’s lechón. It’s the shoulder. If you buy it right, you still get theskin and the fat that help make the flavor we want.

I love the Pastelillos. Those are our turnovers. We make them with this dough that’s infused with saf-fron. You add the saffron to some oil, and then add that to the dough and then you make these discsand you fold them and seal them with the pork filling inside. Oh man! That’s prosperity! There’s no wayto make the turnovers without doing the whole pork roast through. You have to truly get a roastedpork shoulder that you loved and you gave it that passion. You chop up the roasted pork and gooddistribution of dark and white meat. Red pepper, garlic, Spanish olives, whole capers. It’s the recipe I’veperfected over the last few years. Season with cumin, salt, garlic. One of our secrets: we put sugar oneverything. A little sprinkle to give that little extra...

I love Yucca! Especially Pasteles made of Yucca. Of all the starch family, yucca is it for me! During theholidays, my uncle, my mom, and my grandmother would make many things from Yucca, even thoughmoney was always tight. Their cooking was so good that people would front them the cash to get adozen of these Pasteles. So my grandmother and my mother would turn the whole living room into aproduction environment. My job as a boy was to grate plantains. My older brother was stronger so hegrated the yucca. They would make this base using a plantain or Yucca puree with some other ingredi-ents. They take Achote (annatto seeds) with extra virgin olive oil and slowly cook it to release it, slowlystrain it to make that reddish oil, and then mix that into the batter of the Yucca, and also to coat theinside of the rice paper or plantain tree leaf. Then you would take a big banana leaf or rice paper, and a

couple ladles of the puree and you would make a round section of it. Then you would take that roastedpork and then you would fold it into this square. You would make a square in the leaf or on rice paperand you would boil it in the leaf. You would get this cooked plantain or yucca. Very soft to cut, but in themiddle you had this roasted delicious pork. My grandmother would always add fat, because the flavor was in the fat. She would also add raisins, chickpeas and other things depending on how you liked them.That was a holiday thing! Oh man!

When you’re cooking this stuff in your home, you’re feeling like life is good. We knew life was good. We were gonna eat. We were gonna celebrate food. Pork really matters to us. When I think about my youthand what it meant to me, it was always pork as the holiday meat. I know a lot of people today think ofChristmas and they think about beef. But I can’t imagine a rib roast at the holidays. It’s gotta be the pork. Without the pork it doesn’t feel like we’re alive. The beef rib roast means nothing to me. What reallymatters to me and my family is to have that Pernil or that lechón.

You can make Patelillos, Morcill a, and pig ears. My dad used to love pig ears with hot sauce. AndChicharrón (fried pork rinds). That’s where you take pork belly and then make a rind part of it. They’dcut these slices into it to make more surface area. Almost every dish, rice and beans, always had a littlepork in it (mostly fat). It is pretty amazing how one product, the pig, leads to so many other productsthat would not be the same without pork. Pork is amazing. Man! It’s delicious! My grandmother ate porkskin with the fat every time she cooked a pig. She didn’t care. She ate, drank and smoked to the last dayof her life. I don't think she regretted any day of her life when it ended at age 80.

For dessert we used to make Coquito. It’s a coconut egg nog made with Bacardi 151. There was alwaysBacardi! We used to grate coconut. It was either to make coconut flan or Coquito. All of these thingsgave you a sense of we’re gonna be ok!!

Today, we’re very lucky. My kids are all doing well. They still have this great emotional connection tothe pork and the other cultural foods we make. Pork means life is good! It means we’re doing well! Itmeans it’s gonna be a great holiday! They have the same love of the culture and of the food. I thoughtthis connection would only be for us, for our family that has been exposed to it. But now my daughters’fiancé, a fantastic American boy who grew up in Canton, is into it. He asks me to cook, too. And my son’sbest friend is Jewish and he wants it!

I know that Nancy, my wife, and I have done well. Better than any fictional story could predict. But I would not feel complete without that part of my culture—the food. The food with its flavors and smellslink me to the memories that define me culturally. Without the food there is no celebration there is nofeeling of prosperity, and there is no sense of culture. The memories of the food link me to who we are.If you abandon that, the food and the memories, there’s a real sadness for us. We love our culture for

many reasons, but most of all because i t defines us and links us to those that made us and raised us. Ourtrue north is us, as Cubans and Puerto Ricans! Cuban and Puerto Rican culture, and Cuban and PuertoRican cooking. And pork! For me, I can’t imagine success without the food of my childhood. We yearnit. Very importantly for the Cuban in me, “when you make a Lechón, we all know a Cuban sandwich iscoming next!!”

• Italian sausages topped with grilled peppers andonions,in a deliciousBakehouse bun

• Zingerman’s Cubanpork served withBakehouse Rustic RollsZingerman’s old fash-

ioned potato salad• Fresh fruitand berry salad

• Grilled vegetable salad with barrel-aged fetacheese and balsamicdressing

• Warm apple or blue-berry/peach fruit crisp(what’s best in season)

• Fresh brewed iced tea

or lip-smackin’ fresh-squeezed lemonade

* Pricing and menus are designed for 10 or more people. We can accommodate

smaller groups upon request. Per person price may vary.

PACKAGEAs the winter snow piles become a distant memory, it’s time to celebrate the

warmth of summer with a Grillin’ package from Zingerman’s Catering. Pull up alawn chair and a cold beverage and let us take care of your next cookout!

Call 734-663-3400or email [email protected] to learn more

Choose One: Includes:

We are happy to provide a grill master, grill and service staff for any mealfor an additional fee, to give you a truly stress-free event.

Zingerman’s Catering & Events is excitedto announce that we've begun construc-tion on our newest events space. TheGreyline will be a unique urban venuethat is located in the same building as thedowntown Ann Arbor Marriott ResidenceInn, at 100 N. Ashley. This exclusivelyowned space will be the perfect placeto host wedding receptions, corporateevents, mitzvahs, and many other celebra-tory events. The space will be ideal forgroups of 40-150.

We're very glad to have the opportunityto honor the history of the Ann Arbor busdepot, located above our new space onHuron Street, and we're looking forwardto helping others create new memories.The design of the interior will incorporateclassic art deco design elements. Theurban space has many windows whichallowing for beautiful natural light withinthe space and views of the city street. Theinterior will be beautiful on it's own, butalso easily adaptable to the the themes ofour clients' events.

Z I N G E R M A N ’ S E V E N T S P A C E

OPENING LATE SUMMER 2016

1. Choose a class you know they'll love. You can browse more than 60 classesat www.bakewithzing.com. Better yet, join them and bake up some memories

together. Let us know in the commentssection of your registration the class is agift and we'll email you a custom certifi-cate to print and give!

2. Let them pick the class, you give a gift card.Stop in the Bakehouse to pick up gift cards,or give us a call at 734-761-7255 to have agift card mailed to you. You choose the

gift card amount (classes range from $45 to$250); we'll include a gift card enclosureand a class schedule. Gift cards are alsoavailable at all Zingerman's locations.

Then just sit back and enjoy the adoration.If you're lucky, maybe you'll get to share inall the great food they'll bring home fromclass. Make Mom's or Dad's day!

Grilled free-range Amish chicken quarters in achile and lime marinade

OR

Grilled free-range Amish chicken quarters inZingerman’s own zesty BBQsauce

FOR MORE SPECIFIC VENUE INFORMATION GO TO ZINGERMANSGREYLINE.COMWe are now accepting event reservations for any date after August 1st, 2016To inquire about holding a date for your upcoming event

please give us a call at 734-663-3400 or email [email protected]

THIS MOTHER'S DAY & FATHER'S DAY

Meet Fidel Galano at Camp Bacon's Main Event, June 4th, 8am-4pm!

June 1st-5th, 2016 zingermanscampbacon.com

GIVE THEMEMORABLE

GIFT OF


6/15


6

Excerpted from Lesser Beasts: A Snout-to-Tail History of the Humble

Pig by Mark Essig. Available from Basic Books, a member of The

Perseus Books Group. Copyright © 2015.

An enormous pig, belly up, is wheeled into a banquet room inone scene of Federico Fellini’s Satyricon. Trimalchio, the host,accuses the cook of roasting the animal without first gutting itand orders him whipped as punishment. The guests call for mercy,so Trimalchio demands, “Gut it here, now,” where upon the cookswings an enormous sword and slashes the pig’s belly. The guestsrecoil in horror, but the steaming mass that pours forth is not thepig’s viscera but cooked meat. “Thrushes, fatted hens, bird giz-zards!” one character calls out. “Sausage ropes, tender pluckeddoves, snails, livers, ham, offal!” The dispute with the cook hasbeen all in fun. The guests applaud, then grab hunks of meat andbegin to gorge themselves.

Fellini’s film, released in 1969, stays true to its source material,a work by Petronius written not long after the death of Christ.In depicting Roman dining, Petronius satirized but did not exag-gerate: there was no need to embellish the extravagant reality.The dish portrayed in the film, a medley of meats hidden within a whole hog, was known as porcus Troianus, or “Trojan pig,” a nodto another great act of concealment. Petronius also describes a whole roast pig served with hunks of meat carved into the shapeof piglets and placed along its belly, “as if at suck, to show it was asow we had before us.” Another feast featured what appeared tobe a goose and a variety of fish, all carved from pork. “I declaremy cook made it every bit out of a pig,” the host exclaims. “Givethe word, he’ll make you a fish of the paunch, a wood-pigeon ofthe lard, a turtle-dove of the forehand, and a hen of the hind leg!” Why he should do so is left unexplained.

In cuisine, culture, and mythology, Romans delighted in conceal-ment and disguise, metamorphosis and transformation, and inthis they could hardly have been more different from the Jews.The Roman Empire formed a vast, cosmopolitan civilization thatembraced and absorbed dozens of cultures. Few identities—

whether of meats or of people—remained fixed. Trimalchio, inSatyricon, is a former slave who has won his freedom and thenattained great wealth. A man calling himself a Roman citizenmight have been born in northern Europe, Africa, or Asia Minor. Jews, by contrast, were dedicated to marrying among themselves,defending their small homeland, and preserving their ancient ways.

The differences between Romans and Jews extended to food. Onepeople defined itself by rejecting pork, the other by embracingit. One called the pig abominable, the other miraculous. One sawthe pig as a carrier of pollution, the other as a sign of abundance.

Between them, Jews and Romans set the terms that would definethe pig throughout the history of the West.

Most people in the ancient world ate vegetarian diets heavy ongrains and beans. This was the cheapest way to feed large popu-lations. Rome was different. Although meat was expensive, Rome was rich, and a sizable class of people had enough money to eatit regularly.

Romans ate beef, lamb, and goat, but they preferred pork.Hippocrates, the Greek physician, proclaimed pork the best of allmeats, and his Roman successors agreed. There were more Latin words for pork than for any other meat, and the trade becamehighly specialized: there were distinct terms for sellers of live pigs(suarii), fresh pork (porcinarius), dried pork (confectorarius), andham (pernarius). According to the Edict of Diocletian, issued in301 A.D., sow’s udder, sow’s womb, and liver of fig-fattened swinecommanded the highest prices of any meat, costing twice as muchas lamb. Beef sausages sold for just half the price of pork. Afterthe Punic Wars, the percentage of pig bones in Carthage doubled, just as it had in Jerusalem under Roman occupation: Romanskept eating pork even in arid climates such as North Africa andPalestine, where pigs were more difficult to raise.

The richest source on Roman cuisine, a recipe book known as Dere coquinaria, or On Cooking, confirms this love of swine. Porkdishes far outnumber those made with other meats. The sectioncalled “Quadrupeds” contains four recipes for beef and veal,eleven for lamb, and seventeen for suckling pig. Other sectionsof the book offer recipes for adult sows and boars and nearly allof their parts, including brain, skin, womb, udder, liver, stomach,kidneys, and lungs. Archeology confirms that Romans carved uppigs more carefully and thoroughly than they did other creatures:pig skulls found in Roman dumps contain far more butchery scarsthan the skulls of sheep and cows, evidence that butchers excisedthe tongues, cheeks, and brains of pigs but not those of otherbeasts.

More than half of the dishes in On Cooking are relatively mod-est—barley soup with onion and ham bone, for example— and within the means of much of the urban population, but othersdemanded greater resources. Apicius is credited with inventingthe technique of overfeeding a sow with figs in order to enlargethe liver, much as geese were stuffed with grain to create foiegras. In Apicius’s recipe, the fig-fattened pig liver is marinatedin liquamen—a fermented fish sauce central to Roman cuisine— wrapped in caul fat, and grilled. The recipe for pig paunch starts with this salutary advice: “Carefully empty out a pig’s stomach.”The cook is then instructed to fill the stomach with a mixture ofpork, “three brains that have had their sinews removed,” raw

eggs, pine nuts, peppercorns, anise, ginger, rue, and other sea-sonings. Finally, the stomach is tied at both ends—“leaving a littlespace so that it does not burst during cooking”—boiled, smoked,boiled some more, and then served.

Some of the more elaborate dishes in On Cooking fall under theheading ofellae, which literally means a morsel of food. In onerecipe, a skin-on pork belly is scored on the meat side, marinatedfor days in a blend of liquamen, pepper, cumin, and other spices,and then roasted. The chunks of meat would then be pulled fromthe skin, sauced, and served, forming bite-sized pieces that adiner could eat by hand while reclining, the preferred posturefor Roman feasts. Another of the luxury dishes involves boilinga ham, removing the skin, scoring the flesh, and coating it withhoney, a preparation that would not be out of place at Christmasdinner today.

Romans had a taste for blended milk, blood, and flesh that couldmake even a Gentile shudder. The Roman poet Martial had thisto say about a roasted udder of lactating sow: “You would hardlyimagine you were eating cooked sows’ teats, so abundantly dothey flow and swell with living milk.” (Elsewhere, after a meal,Martial suffers the glutton’s regret and remarks upon “theunsightly skin of an excavated sow’s udder.”) This preference veered into the bizarrely cruel. Some cooks, Plutarch claimed,stomped and kicked the udders of live pregnant sows andthereby “blended together blood and milk and gore,” which wassaid to make the dish all the more delicious. The womb of thispoor sow was eaten as well, with the dish called vulva eiectitia,or “miscarried womb.”

Seneca, the Stoic philosopher and statesman, decried such dishesas “monstrosities of luxury,” and he was far from the only critic.Roman rulers passed sumptuary laws limiting the amount thatcould be spent on meals and forbidding the consumption of items

including testicles and cheeks. But the wealthy flouted such rulesbecause the social hierarchy couldn’t function without feasts:feasting provided the only way to learn who had grown richerand who had lost money, who was in the emperor’s favor and who had been cast out. To curtail extravagance was to deny the very reason to feast....Rome created the most sophisticated agricultural system the world had ever known. Previously, farming had been a localaffair. Even in the great civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia,production and consumption occurred within a fairly circum-scribed area defined by irrigated river valleys and surroundingrangeland. By contrast, imports from outside the Italian Peninsulaconstituted three-quarters of Rome’s food supply.

Rome brought all of the Mediterranean world and much ofEurope within its orbit, pulling in grain from Egypt, cured meatsfrom Spain, olive oil from Syria, and spices from further east. The

wheat that satisfied Caesar’s bread dole was mostly importedfrom North Africa, where it was collected as tax. Grain sufficientto feed hundreds of thousands of people moved around theregion by ship and filled large granaries that provided insuranceagainst famine.

Although Romans imported grain by ship, they raised nearly allof their livestock within Italy. They kept sheep primarily for wooland secondarily for milk and cheese. Goats were rare, thoughsometimes raised for milk. Cows offered dairy products, and oxenpulled plows in the fields and carts on the road. Meat from theseanimals was eaten, but it was usually a by-product rather than theprincipal reason for raising them. Archaeologists tell us that mostbutchered cattle show stress injuries to their leg bones, meaningthat they worked hard before ending up in the pot. Beef and mut-ton came from older animals—ewes and cows whose udders haddried up, rams and bulls who had become infertile, and oxen thatcould no longer pull a plow.

Only pigs were raised exclusively for food. They were eaten when young and therefore were far more tender than worn-out oxen. A popular saying held, “Life was given them just like salt, to pre-serve the flesh”—meaning that pigs had no reason for living otherthan to feed people. Given how much Romans loved to feast, this was no small consideration. According to Varro, Rome’s mostimportant agricultural writer, “the race of pigs is expressly givenby nature to set forth a banquet.”

Country’s Leading Hog HistorianComes to Camp BaconMARK ESSIG, AUTHOR OF THE AMAZING LESSER BEASTS;

A SNOUT-TO-TAIL HISTORY OF THE HUMBLE PIG TO PRESENT AT 7TH ANNUAL PORK FEST

I first met Mark Essig while I was speaking in Asheville. I’d done some ZingTrain work for our long-time client Laurey Masterton,

who sadly passed away a few years ago. We still miss her. Laurey had arranged on that trip for me to do a dinner around the then

recently released Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon. As part of the brief, bacon-based talk I did for the dinner guests, I referencedone of my favorite learnings from the research I’d done for t he book. I’m fascinated by professions that no longer exist. Ice harvest-

ing is one of them. Another is droving. It’s so obscure you’ve likely never heard of it. But up until the advent of the railroads in the

second half of the 19th century, it was the process to get hogs from the small farms where they were raised—usually only a handful

per farm—to the city where they could be slaughtered to provide pork to the nation’s growing urban population. Since the pigs

weren’t going to make the journey on their own, they needed the porcine equivalent of a chaperone. The men who did that were

known as drovers.

In the moment, the point of this story is t hat wherever I went to present on bacon, I’d tell the story of the drovers. Not surprisingly,

barely a soul had ever even heard of them. Not shocking given that they’d been essentially extinct for well over a hundred years.

Anyway, when I spoke in Asheville that winter’s evening, a tall guy, to my right, raised his hand and mentioned to me that he was

very interested in the drovers! He was doing research and wanted to share information. Excited to find someone else who was

interested in obscure history, I invited him to speak at the spring’s Camp Bacon. It was our second annual gathering, then as now,

a fundraiser for the Southern Foodways Alliance and Washtenaw County 4H. Andre Williams came and played his marvelous 1956hit single, Bacon Fat, that year (look it up online—it’s a great piece of music!). Mark came as well and gave a fantastic talk on the

drovers.

Five years or so later, Mark’s research hit the bookshelves. Lesser Beasts; A Snout-to-Tail History of the Humble Pig is a fantasticpiece work on the history of the pig, from prehistoric times all the way through to the present. It’s well-researched, well-written,

and super informative. As you probably know, I’ve been paying close attention to culinary history, and pigs in particular, for over

three decades, and I learned a LOT from it. If you like to read, you’re intrigued by pork and love to learn, add it your list ASAP. It’s a

great Mother’s or Father’s Day gift for any pork-loving parents in your life. To add a little outside credibility to support my claim, the

Atlanta Journal-Constitution called Lesser Beasts, “Splendid…Essig surveys the 10,000 year partnership of man and pig, a tumul-tuous affair full of accusation, fire and litigation… A pleasure to read.”

To whet your appetite, check out the excerpt below. It’s a just small piece of the book but it’ll hopefully pique your curiosity. If you’re

really intrigued, Mark will be presenting at this year’s main event for the 7th Annual Camp Bacon on Saturday June 4th. He’ll also

be speaking at the Thursday evening Bacon Ball (June 2nd), our annual pork-focused special dinner at the Roadhouse.

Oh yeah, if you want read more about the drovers, you can also grab a copy of the Zingerman’s Guide to Better Bacon as well. Acouple of good books and some good bacon can be a marvelous way to spend a nice spring day!

Meet Mark Essig at Camp Bacon's Annual Bacon Ball,

Thursday, June 2, 7pm!


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Dry-Aged Cowboy Cut Ribeye SteaksThis one ain’t for dainty eaters. Enormous rib-eyes, nearly two inches thick, each tippingthe scales at about a pound and a half.The cowboy cut has a couple inches ofbone sticking out, giving you a handleto hold onto the largest meat ham-mer you’ve ever seen. More than bigenough to share, but so scrump-tious you’ll want to keep it all to yourself. The cattle are raised toimpeccable standards, grass-fed

and grass-finished in Oregon.The beef is dry aged for two weeks, which gives it a deep,mineral tang. Incredibly rich with a luscious marbling of fat.Ships frozen, arrives frozen or cool.

Strip Steaks from Bill Niman’s BN RanchIn the food world, Bill Niman’s name has long been synonymous with sustain-ably-raised pork and beef, he was an iconoclastic pioneer in the movement. Nolonger affiliated with Niman Ranch, these days he’s raising some of the mostflavorful grass-fed and grass-finished beef I’ve ever tasted under the brand BNRanch. Sometimes grass-fed beef can be hit or miss if there isn’t enough fatdevelopment. Not the case with Bill’s beef. These steakshave great marbling and taste, well, steak-ierthan most. This is not a steak that's an apologyfor grass feeding. This competes with ev-ery great steak in the world, it's justmade without feed lots, withouthormones, without corn, without any bullsh*t. We'vebeen working with Bill for years and this is the firsttime any of his steaks areavailable via mail orderin America. Bone in, two to apack. Ships frozen, arrives frozenor cool.

Heritage Meat KitLess than 1% of our country’smeat has a pedigree like this. After tasting meat from manyfarms, I can tell you not all ofthat 1% taste great. Sometimes you pay for the animal hus-bandry but don’t get the flavor. Luckily, we've done thetasting work for you (I know,tough job, right?). What wehave here is extremely tasty.Two thick Red Wattle porter-house pork chops, a gigan-tic cowboy cut ribeye fromCarman Ranch and a pound of grass-fed ground beef. Shipped frozen for anight—or a week—of grilling you’ll never forget.

Zingerman's LegendaryReuben KitThe perfect sandwich by mail. If

you know a dad who loves realdeli fare, sending this gift willcement your status as the mostclever, generous child they have.Some assembly is required, butconsidering it has been knownto make sober adults weep silenttears of joy, I say it’s worth it.

Get these & other full-flavored giftsat zingermans.com

When you buy a bottle of wine, what factors do you consider? I’ll bet one of the things you think about is

which grapes it’s made from. We expect that a Cabernet Sauvignon will taste different from a Pinot Noir ora Chardonnay, and depending on your own taste preferences or what you want to eat with the wine youmay make different choices. How about when you buy a pork chop—do you consider the breed of the pig?If your answer is no, you’re not alone. Over the last half century, the meat industry has selectively bredmore and more standardized animals, taking the question of breed completely out of the consumer’s mind.Pork is pork, right? Maybe. The vast majority of the pork that you buy at the grocery today is likely to be abreed developed over the last few decades, so it’s all going to be pretty similar. That’s a big change from acentury ago. While through most of history we’ve bred animals to be disease-resistant, or good tempered,or hardy, or delicious, the current trend is toward one very particular trait: the ability to convert feed intomeat as quickly as possible.

THE CHICKEN CAME FIRST.In 1925, it took fifteen weeks to grow a chicken that weighed 2.2 pounds. By 1990, you could grow the samechicken in about four weeks. The biggest cost to raising a chicken is the feed, so the quicker you can raisea chicken the less feed you have to give it and the less expensive it is to raise. With the new, faster growingchickens, the slow growing chickens that had pecked around farms were economically obsolete. Within afew decades, dozens of centuries-old heritage breed chickens were almost extinct, replaced by a few new

breeds. Chicken meat became cheap and suddenly the dream of a chicken in every pot became a reality. Well, maybe more like a McNugget in every bucket.

But there were a lot of tradeoffs for quick growth. These chickens lost their disease immunity so theystarted getting daily antibiotics in their feed. They grew too big too quickly for their skeletons to keep up,causing them to have trouble moving around without fracturing bones. The solution was to jam pack theminto tiny cages that barely allowed them to move. And while the meat was plentiful, it was bland.

THE OTHER WHITE MEAT WAS NEXT. After seeing the financial success they’d had with developing new chickens, meat executives turned theirattention to pork. Like chickens, today’s commercial pigs grow faster and bigger than they ever havebefore. Also like chickens, the vast majority of pigs that are raised today bear little resemblance to thebreeds that were rooting around on farms 75 years ago. Back then, pigs were raised both for their meat andfor their fat. Lard was the number one cooking fat in America until World War II, when it was so importantas a grease used in making explosives that advertising campaigns implored housewives to switch to using“more healthful” vegetable fats like margarine so that the lard could all be used in the war effort. As theidea that animal fats were bad caught on, farmers started breeding pigs to be leaner. The meat industrynoticed that lean muscle developed much more quickly than the flavorful fat, and they sped the changesalong. Within a few decades pork became so lean that it ended up being dry and flavorless and it got a badreputation for being low quality (with the exception of bacon, which had enough fat and salt to still havea little flavor left).

The good news is that there are a handful of farmers out there who are still raising heritage breed pigs—thesame breeds that could have been raised by their grandparents. Here are a few of the heritage breeds ofpork you may find on the market today, including on our shelves:

WHAT GIVESMEAT FLAVOR?PART 1: BREEDBY VAL NEFF-RASMUSSEN

Berkshire: one of the most common heri-tage pigs today, Berkshire pork is tender andincredibly flavorful—you might call it especially“porky.” It’s a popular choice with chefs.

Duroc: first developed in New England around1800, Duroc pork is earthy, nutty, bold, yetclean and juicy.

Tamworth: first developed in Ireland, andknown for being one of the best breeds forbacon. The pork has sweet, nutty notes.

Ibérico Pata Negra: these are the famous pigsthat root in the forests of southern Spain andeat the acorns to become Ibérico de Bellota.The meat is usually cured. When fresh it’s unbe-lievably rich and savory, almost like a crossbetween beef and pork.

Red Wattle: originally from New Orleans, Red Wattle pork has incredibly complex, herba-ceous, subtly sweet flavor. It has prized fat thatmelts in your mouth.

AND THEN THERE’S BEEF.Unlike chickens and pigs, which have undergone such radical transformations over the last century, today’scattle look similar to cows of the past. There are a few reasons cattle genetics have changed less, but oneof the simplest ones is how long it takes to get a new cow. A chicken lays eggs daily, and chicks grow intofull-sized chickens in a couple of months. In industrial conditions, a sow can have twenty or thirty pigletsper year and the pigs reach full size in six to eight months. But a cow only has one or two calves per year,and it’s at least a year and a half before they’re ready to go to market. Since it takes so much longer to geteach new generation, changes have been slower. The result is that, compared to chicken or pork, way moreof the beef on the market is closer to being a breed that has been around for a long time.

IS KNOWING THE BREED OF AN ANIMALENOUGH TO KNOW HOW THE MEAT WILL TASTE?No. Knowing the breed is a good start, and the older breeds will certainly all taste a little different. Butthere are a lot more factors that also play a role in the flavor of the meat. What was it fed? Where was itraised? How was it treated? When was it harvested? How was it processed? That’s a lot to keep in mind, buteach piece is an important part of the big question: what gives meat great flavor?

Val Neff-Rasmussen writes The Feed blog at zingermans.com

For the rest of our series of articles on what gives meat flavor,please head to The Feed blog at thefeed.zingermans.com

MAKE DAD'S DAYWITH GIFTS FROM ZINGERMAN'S MAIL ORDER

Meet Val Neff-Rassmussen at Camp Bacon's Main Event, June 4th, 8am-4pm!


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SHARING ZINGERMAN’SUNIQUE APPROACHTO BUSINESS

HOW VENTURITY VENTURED INTO A VISION(AND MISSION AND PASSIONS!)

1. Can you tell us a little bit about Venturity?

What do you do and what is your role there?Sure! Venturity is a professional services firm that specializesin outsourced accounting. Basically, when you think about theaccounting department at your company, that’s what we do forour clients on an outsourced basis. We become the account-ing department, processing their payables and receivables,closing their books, and preparing their monthly financials. Ifounded the company in 2001, and we’ve got 50 team membersand service about 150 small businesses, mostly in Texas. I’mthe Managing Partner, and I’m responsible for setting and help-ing to execute the strategies to help us grow. I’m also here toremove obstacles and create an environment where our teammembers can be successful and learn and grow.

2. How did you first come to know about ZingTrain?What was it that you heard about us that led you toattend one of our seminars?My connection with ZingTrain and the Zingerman’s Communityof Businesses was very serendipitous.

Back in 2010, I attended a seminar put on by a local businesspublication based on their “Best Places to Work in Dallas”awards. They had brought in a blockbuster line-up of speak-ers, including Bo Burlingham talking about his book, now aclassic, Small Giants (that featured Zingerman’s), a member ofthe Springfield Remanufacturing leadership team to talk aboutThe Great Game of Business and Open Book Management, andStas' Kazmierski of ZingTrain talking about the power of a greatculture.

I’m cannot recall all the details of Stas’ talk, but I remember heshowed the Zingerman’s 3 Steps to Giving Great Service TrainingDVD (I can still recite them today), and I was immediately blownaway. What impacted me was not just the content of the video,but listening to the team members talk about service. They all

seemed to genuinely enjoy the work they did and genuinelybelieved in the company they worked for.

My first thought was: “You know, we’re no Zingerman’s, but wehave the opportunity at Venturity to create something like that,and I want to work with these guys to find out how. I don’t care ifit takes years, I want to make that happen at Venturity.”

I was ecstatic that not only were you guys willing to share your wisdom, you actually had a whole business in ZingTraindesigned to help me do just that. And that’s what caused me toreach out to ZingTrain!

3. What were you seeking for your business when youcame to ZingTrain? We first contracted with ZingTrain to help us articulate ourMission and Passions (others would refer to them as Values). We came to Ann Arbor and worked one-on-one with AnnLofgren and she was amazing. We also timed our visit so we

could stay afterward and attend the 2-day seminar Creating a Vision of Greatness that Ari teaches.

We got a twofer, and we were off to the races from there. Comingto ZingTrain completely changed the trajectory of our business.

After that, we brought Ann Lofgren down to Texas twice, once tohelp us work with our Leadership team on Visioning, and a sec-ond time to help us roll out a program on Delivering ExceptionalService. We felt it was important to have Ann guide us throughthis process using her experience and wisdom, rather than try-ing to wing it on our own. We also felt her independent voice would benefit us and facilitate more open discussion and a bet-ter result. Both turned out to be the case.

4. What impact do you believe articulating your Vision,Mission and Passions has had on the day to day workyou do at Venturity Financial Partners?

As I mentioned above, the Vision, Mission and Passions processhas taken us on an entirely different trajectory. We were very

much at a “stuck point” in growing our organization. It was aconstant two steps forward and then two steps back. We justcouldn’t get over the hump, especially as it related to attractinggreat people, keeping them engaged with us, and having us allpulling in the same direction. The Mission and Passions gaveus a framework for decision making, because we were muchmore clear on who we were, and what we stood for. Our Visiongave everyone a clear idea of where we were going, and, mostimportantly, where we were going together.

We have grown over 50% in the three years since we rolled theseout, but most importantly, it’s a much better place to work everyday than it was when we started the process. We’re not Zingerman’syet, but every day we get a little bit closer to the great place to workthat I saw in that video that day, and my commitment to get thereis unwavering.

5. If you could give one piece of advice to a businessowner or organizational leader, what would it be?If you don’t have clearly articulated values that your wholeorganization can get behind, and a mission, which is yourclearly and simply articulated purpose for being in business, you are going to be constantly fighting an uphill battle to suc-ceed. We simply would have never grown past the point we were if we hadn’t stepped back and gone through that process.It’s the single most important foundational thing we’ve done asa team, and if I ever start another business it will be one of thefirst things I do, rather than waiting 10 years like I did this time.

COMING THIS SPRING! Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading, Part 4; A Lapsed Anarchist’s Approach to

THE POWER OF BELIEFS IN BUSINESS“With a tablespoon of generosity and history, a dash of food,and a pinch of art and anarchism, Ari delivers a tasty recipefor building healthy organizations. It’s Part 4 in what one cus-tomer called a series of ‘anti-business business books.’Adam Grant, Wharton professor and New York Times bestselling author ofGive and Take and Originals

"The more I know, learn and think about Ari’s work, and

discover how its applied in the Zingerman’s Community ofBusinesses, the more convinced I am that is a gem in today’srevolutionary leadership movement, dominated by two tow-ering pioneers. These authors are Peter Block and RobertPutnam. Ari’s work definitely is that same category. It willnot be long before many nations will be different as the ideasof the ideas of these three thinkers percolate through human-ity. Ari’s writing is very readable and continually it is spot-on wise. His writing will change the reader.”Peter Koestenbaum, author, Leadership: The Inner Side of Greatness

"With years of experience at the helm of Zingerman's, Ari Weinzweig understands as deeply as anyone how essential itis to nurture and constantly reinforce every member of theorganization’s authentic relationship with the mission, vision, values and beliefs of the business. The Power of Beliefs inBusiness is chockfull of fresh wisdom - and enough memo-rable “Ari-isms” to set anyone up to be a champion."

Danny Meyer, author, Setting the Table, the Transforming Power ofHospitality in Business

"Ari Weinzweig and Zingerman’s invented the modern conceptof hospitality. Like any good anarchist, Ari's understanding ofbusiness and leadership is constantly evolving. His wisdommakes me reconsider my understanding of my own businessevery time I talk with him. That’s why this fourth installmentof Zingerman’s Guide to Good Leading is so juicy. This book,and its readers, will benefit from decades of his leading not just Zingerman’s, but all of America’s business community."Mario Batali, chef, restaurateur, author, America Farm to Table

The power of

beliefsin business

Gu ide to Good L eading, Part 4

Buy All Four Books or Buy Four Of Part 4

$29.95

Here at the ZingTrain office, we’re big fans of stages, steps, rec-

ipes and processes. One time, we documented the 5 stages of

an awesome relationship with ZingTrain! You’ll find it on the

About Us page of the ZingTrain website (www.zingtrain.com).

The client featured in this edition of the newsletter, Venturity

Financial Partners from Addison, TX, might as well have been

the inspiration for every single one of those 5 stages. The

interview with Chris McKee, Founder and Managing Partner

of Venturity, that follows will reveal why!

2-day seminars that Chris McKeeand/or his partners have attended:

- Creating a Vision of Greatness- Open Book Management

- Managing Ourselves

Zingerman's new seminar and workshop schedule now available at www.zingtrain.com


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3723 Plaza Drive, Ann Arbor • 734-929-0500 • zingermanscreamery.com

Zingerman’s Creamery has been mak-ing and selling cow’s milk and goat’smilk cheeses for nearly 15 years now. With a little money and a lot of greatideas about craft cheesemaking, John Loomis started the Creameryat an old dairy farm in Manchesteron Sharon Hollow Road back in2001. After just a few years there,the travel between Manchester and Ann Arbor (especially in the winter) was a bit too much to justify, and the Creamery joined Zingerman’s Bakehouseat what we now call “Zingerman’s Southside” in the early 2000s. John’s flag-ship cheese for the Creamery was Fresh Cream Cheese, which won an awardfrom the American Cheese Society shortly after he started making it. Over the years John added more and more cheeses to the lineup, including more fresh

and aged mold-ripened cow’s and goat’s milk

Documents

Zingerman's May/June 2016 Newsletter