Speck and Asiago Event

Recently, I attended a Speck and Asiago event hosted by the Consorzio at Perbacco in San Francisco. We were delighted with a 4 course lunch filled with, you guessed it, Speck and Asiago--the two go hand in hand.

Course 1: Speck with roasted pears, arugula, and shaved Asiago Allevo

(The pears went SO well with the speck--the sweet and salty combo had me craving more after I finished my first plate and the peppery arugula just really made this a great salad. Plus, I'm a sucker for arugula (and cured meat, and cheese) so I guess I was a little biased)

Course 2: Polenta with wild mushroom ragu, and Asiago Pressato

(Dare I say, best polenta I have ever eaten. I'm not normally a connoisseur of polenta, but this one was different. Underneath that top layer of creamy polenta are balls of Asiago cheese melted to chewy, cheesy perfection! A wonderful surprise!)

Course 3: Costine Salmistrate con Crauti e Canederli---pork ribs braised with sauerkraut and speck dumplings

(By this time, I was already rather full, but how could I say no to pork? The pork ribs were fall-off-the-bone tender and the fattiness was cut by the vinegary sauerkraut. And the speck dumplings, oh, so good. The dumplings were not too doughy and were infused with just enough speck flavor and savoriness.)

Course 4: Panna Cotta with apples poached in Lagrein and honey

(Smoothest Panna Cotta this side of town! Speckled with vanilla bean this Panna Cotta had such great milky flavor and rich vanilla aroma, that paired with the poached apples made for a delicious (and surprisingly light!) dessert.