Oliveto's Whole Hog 2006


How do you cook a whole hog? Paul Canales, the exceedingly upbeat and happy chef at Oliveto's in Oakland, seems to have a lot of practice. Following the Paul Bertolli tradition, Canales dishes the bounty out for four days each year. He is one of the few chefs around that buys whole animals including beef, and uses his hootzpah (yiddish) to use the whole damn thing. Paul Willis of Thorton,Iowa supplies the hogs. It's then potted and formed, dried, brined, cured, fried, roasted, and simmered in its own rendered fat. Never mind the lack of roughage— forgo the fennel salad with puntarella for the potatoes and crackling. If you want pork liver formed into pate there might be a few green herb in the mix. Spread it lavishly on your toast. You want home made bologna? The Mortadella is quite spectacular (the first ever recipe is said to be from 1484) lightly smoked and flavored with myrtle and coriander. That's one way to make bologna sound quaint. Not so quaint is the fried pork trotter and brains with blood orange Tangelo salsa. I didn't try it but looked over my shoulder at the next table who did. Anything is good fried if fried well ( 275F-350F depending). Paul Cannales offered some advice to my friend who ordered the bacon chop with fava bean puree and a salsa rustica meant for two. The piece was couched in two inches of fat. Canales took one look at him said it would be better he slept sitting up. It would have been nice if I had slept sitting up. A bit too much lard for one night, even though I inhaled the head cheese, its name notwithstanding. Despite loving the naked ravioli and meat balls formed in perfect ping pong ball shapes, and despite enjoying the boudin blanc and noir, the small bites of pork chop and black truffled scaloppine (which was also slightly cured and a not so good), I felt full for two days. Call it overeating, call it gluttony, or just call it hog heaven.
Oliveto
5655 College Ave
Oakland, Ca.
510-547-5356