| Serving the | Ivy Eats Berkshire Pork, Toronto: July 2006, Gremolata Number 83. |
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   | Sausage Party by Ivy Knight
[WARNING: This article has some pretty salty language - Ed.] A few months ago, my chef, David Chrystian put Berkshire pork on our menu. Stop. Wait. First off what is Berkshire pork? See below:
Our new menu boasted Berkshire pork belly, braised and roasted for the dinner menu and that same pork belly pulled apart and paired with banana peppers and avocado in a quesadilla at lunch. I haven’t stopped hearing about Berkshire pork since. It’s all anyone seems to be talking about. Crackheads and prostitutes aren’t necessarily talking about it, but in my line of work it’s getting to be a little bit tiresome. Don’t get me wrong, it’s really great pork that tastes the way pig should taste. It’s got a gorgeous amount of fat and blah, blah, blah….the fat is where the flavour is. Bruce Daum, head honcho at Berkshire Pork MB, is trying to make this beast a staple in Toronto restaurants. He tells me how David ended up becoming involved, “A supplier showed me an article about David having Berkshire pork on his menu so I went to Joy Bistro to try it. I had the pork belly quesadilla and I raved about it. David and I had a conversation about what it would take to bring Berkshire pork to Toronto. He’s a forward, creative thinker and I just said yes to everything he suggested.” What David suggested was the Naked Pig, a celebration of Berkshire pork on Toronto Island, at Hanlan’s Point, with live bands, lots of beer and a long buffet of pork prepared by different chefs from restaurants around the city. Sounds awesome right? Who wouldn’t want to go and eat free pork while listening to White Cowbell Oklahama and the Silver Hearts? Wait a minute, this event is industry only. Meaning, get lost you Queen West metrosexual dipshit, make way for the chefs and dishwashers, servers and prep cooks. This day is for them. David gives me the lowdown on his vision, “The mission is to create an event that not only represents a great chef-friendly product, but to promote the next generation of working chefs, while also paying close attention to careful, meaningful farming practices. Berkshire in Toronto is the first step in rebranding a heritage ingredient that has been tampered with but is on the mend. Once realized in Toronto we can confidently approach other major cities in North America and reintroduce pork as it should be; not 'the other white meat' but real food.” Bruce chimes in, “We need to treat the meat like cocaine and get these chefs addicted.” It won’t take much, one taste and you’re hooked. You’d rather starve than eat supermarket pork again, and rightly so.
The day of the Naked Pig was sultry, David had shirts printed with a logo designed by artist Justine Dart, which Kerry (my hot husband) and I donned before slugging back the first of many Bud Lites. I helped Erika (Joy Bistro Manager) and Justine man the registration table, giving red concert bracelets to industry people and informing non-industry folk that they could come in and watch the bands and drink beer, but that no bracelet means no meat. “But I was invited by the band!” whined one. “I was told in an email that I could eat as much pork as I wanted.” pouted another. “Sorry, I really feel bad for you, working in an air-conditioned gallery all day, partying in a VIP room all night. I spent my Saturday night working a twelve hour shift in a hot kitchen, spell that ‘no air conditioning’ while trying not to succumb to maniacal coughing fits brought on by the bronchial cold everyone in our crew has caught. Now here I am listening to you whine, watching you adjust your Prada sunglasses.” Erika is very good with people, I’m not. That’s why she’s in the front of house and I’m in the kitchen. I leave the registration table to Erika, I need to calm down and get away from the mewling morons. I’m going to go talk to some chefs. I see Milton Tanswell standing over the grill, he’s our Sous-Chef at Joy and worked forty hours over the last three days due to staff shortages in the kitchen. He and David spent the day before hand forming three hundred miniature pork pies for the event. He should be home in bed but here he is grilling corn. “I think this is one of the coolest fucking cooking events I’ve ever been to. It’s so great to see everyone like this, having a good time, doing each other’s jobs. I’ve been here since 7AM and I’m having a blast.” Rocco Agostino (Silver Spoon) stands on the other side of the grill, quickly searing his pork paillard which he’s offering with a cherry and cilantro chutney. “It’s a good way to enjoy lots of pork and beer and hang out with your colleagues” he tells me, when I notice I’m holding a dead soldier in my hand. I run to the bar for a new Bud Lite, I love Bud Lite so much. This is not something I’m admired for by my colleagues, who are all oenophiles and champions of various microbreweries. I love Bud Lite because it has no taste and you can drink it forever and not get too sloppy. Scot Woods (Habitat) has brought a cold pork terrine that Kerry is treating like cocaine. Well he’s not snorting it but he is definitely addicted. “I love that there’s more fat in this than meat.” He laughs. He stuffs some more in before hitting the Beer Bistro table. Sous-Chef Jesse Vallins has brought pulled pork sandwiches. “I brined the pork, then put on a spice rub and let it marinate for twenty-four hours, then smoked it with apple and cherry wood at 190 degrees, then pulled it apart and mixed it with some barbecue sauce I made with ancho chiles and stout.” Kerry and I each stuff a soft, white, church-supper bun (my favourite for a filling like this) with the pulled pork and sit on the grass to listen to Marnie Lee McCounty croon a version of “Blue Moon of Kentucky” with more soul and balls than that song has ever been subjected to.\
Barrio has brought pork quesadillas with Baluchon cheese and fennel-pickled apples and a potato salad. Robin Kemp, from the Spoke Club tells me the quesadilla was his favourite, “It was the best expression of the pork for sure.” A woman comes up to the Barrio table and says “I’m a vegetarian and I couldn’t find anything to eat here until that potato salad. It’s the best potato salad I’ve ever had.” I guess so, the guys at Barrio made the dressing with rendered pork fat. Alex Tso and Anne Rumble (Pequeno) are here with something Alex came up with after a dream he had. What if a pig was sniffing for truffles and ate one? Where would it end up? The belly. So, Alex and Anne took a pork belly and stuffed it with a truffle farce of ground Berkshire, mushroom duxelle, black truffles and truffle oil. They then wrapped it in cheesecloth and braised it. I was served a slice garnished with more truffle oil and Malden salt. Fuck fuck fuck! Need I say more? It was total porno. Nice. Steve Wilson, Chef de Partie at the King Edward has brought Berkshire pork chili with smoked beans and fresh Ontario corn. “On Friday our pastry chef, Eugene Daniel, was getting ready to head home. I had to tell him to stick around and make me eighty miniature loaves of cornbread. He was thrilled.” Steve hands me a slice, it’s fabulous moist cornbread (thanks Eugene) and the chili is right on the money. Some people approach Steve’s chili-filled chafing dishes and inform him that they are vegetarian (What’s with all the fucking hippies here today? This is a pork festival!!!) He offers them some cornbread and some advice: “This is a bad place to be a vegetarian, stay away from the potato salad.” They look at him quizzically then slump away.
“We’re in the middle of Summerlicious right now, we’re doing two hundred covers a night, so it’s pretty crazy. Our kitchen is the size of two picnic tables, I had to come in early to prep all this, it was hectic but worth it. It’s good to be out with some other chefs. I work across the street from Habitat and this is the first time I’ve talked to Scot Woods. David did a great job coordinating this. I’d definitely use Berkshire in my restaurant, I always do some charcouterie with pork.” Nathan has echoed what every other chef has told me today. They love the Berkshire pig, as anyone with a slightly functioning palate would. Oyster Boy has a shucking station set up with buckets of Malpeques on ice. Adam Calhoun shucks me a few, these are big oysters that require more than a few bites. They are so good, Justine Dart, taking a break from the registration table comments, “The oysters are so refreshing after all that pork fat.” Shockingly, there’s a dessert on offer here. As I approach the tray of truffles, the lead singer of the Silver Hearts makes an announcement from the stage. “I gotta endorse those bacon and chocolate truffles with peanut butter. Don’t knock it till ya try it.” I try one and I’m in love. Chocolate and salt go so well together. I remember eating French fries with Oreo cookies in the high school cafeteria when I was sixteen, at the time my favourite flavour combination. Kerry tries one, then another and another until I shoo him away to grab some more beers. Sera Antheunis, the juniour Sous-Chef at Beer Bistro made these amazing truffles. “When we were all talking about this event I suggested something sweet. A few years ago I saw a recipe for chocolate, peanut butter and bacon truffles in Saveur. I decided to up the bacon content by 75% and I emulsified the chocolate with bacon fat. It’s a little bit strange but people are really liking it.” Wait a minute, this piece is called “Sausage Party”, where the hell is the sausage? Near the end of the day, David presents Kerry and I with a bouquet of sausages made by Tobey Nemeth (Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar) which we take for the ferry ride back to the Big Smoke. One bite and every other sausage you’ve ever had is pale and flaccid. Toby is crazy about charcouterie, which you can sample if you get your ass down to JK Wine Bar. I’m getting ahead of myself here, before we leave the Naked Pig I take a look around. What a perfect day, the pig breeders from Manitoba are happy, the chefs and cooks and servers are happy, the spoiled bitches are pissed off and the vegetarians are sparking up spliffs and playing Frisbee. So, Bruce, think you’ve got some addicts on your hands? “Oh absolutely” he winks. PS: An independent documentary was made of the event by director Josh Haggarty, which captured the event in an interesting, hilarious, progressive style. Watch this space to find out where you can check it out. ____________________________________________ |   | |
| Ivy Knight is a Toronto-based writer and chef. She is currently Tournand at Joy Bistro with Chef David Chrystian. READ MORE IVY AT GREMOLATA: Fill My Bowl: Ivy attends a gourmet fundraiser Brunch Bites: Ivy does not like brunch Apple of the Earth: Ivy makes potato salad Email Ivy at ladyslenderlegs@gmail.com
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“This is a great product because it is cared for at the source. Farmers aren’t screwing it up for profit, it is pork in its pure form. It tastes like the old world. Today, with everything in high speed, it is great to find a comfort zone, roots, flavour and a product that requires us to rethink cooking, farming and eating.” David concludes.
Nathan Isberg looks like a young surfer god with his long curly blonde hair. Really young. He looks about fifteen. This is Czehoski’s chef? Hmmm. What did he bring? “I brought a chilled consommé with morcilla, a blood sausage I made with cocoa and Berkshire shoulder meat. I also brought some remoulade, a green bean and almond salad and some coca. Coca are little Catalan pizzas with white beans, pesto, arugula and confit of pork shoulder.” Oh that’s all eh? Holy shit. How did you find the time to do all that Nathan, is your restaurant dead these days?