Story: Pigging Out on Tasty Salted Pig Parts

Like a kid in a candy store, I stood in awe in front of Boccalone Salumeria's gleaming glass cases full of dry-cured salume. Lucky for me, the shop was offering ample chunks of several products for sampling and I helped myself to three different kinds.

Oink. Double oink.

The newly opened shop's 23-varieties of cured and cooked meats include a classic lardo with rosemary and juniper, soppressata di Calabria, Paté di Campagna and salami (salume in Italian) spiked with orange and wild fennel.

This is the first retail business for Chris Cosentino and Mark Pastore, chef and owner of Icanto − one of the City’s most popular Italian restaurants. As with the food served at Icanto, Boccalone’s products are based on authentic Italian recipes and produced in small batches from sustainably-raised products − in this case, heritage-breed pork.

Serious salami lovers are invited to join the shop's Salumi Society at the membership levels of Piglet or Boar. These member-piggies attend twice monthly Saturday market events to pick up an assortment of fresh sausage and salumi including limited-edition items like prosciutto and lonza.

For lucky local office workers with a penchant for pork, hot and cold panini and a variety of salumi platters are available for delivery via one of Boccalone Salumeria's spiffy delivery bikes.

Boccalone Salumeria
Ferry Building Marketplace #21
San Francisco, CA 94111
415/433-6500

www.boccalone.com