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    Charcutier Gilles Verot's Fromage de Tete

    By | Shine Food – Fri, Mar 14, 2008 5:36 PM EDT

    The first few hours I'm in Paris are always spent the same way-stocking the pantry and fridge. That means stops at the fromagerie for milk, butter, eggs and, of course, cheese; the boulangerie for a loaf of country bread; the caviste for a bottle of wine; and the charcutier for a good spicy sausage, a hunk of pate and maybe a slice of fromage de tete. The latter terrine has nothing to do with cheese, but a lot to do with "tete," since it's made from a pig's head. It's really a shame that something so extraordinarily good should have a name that doesn't sound particularly appealing in either French or English. But what's so interesting is that as ugly as the name may be, we don't care: fromage de tete and so many homemade specialties are turning up hither and yon.


    This fromage de tete was made by celebrated Parisian charcutier Gilles Verot and it's the one that earned him a gold medal in the French national fromage de tete competition. (How can you not love a country that has equal affection for its championship soccer team and its prize-winning sausagemakers?) Verot is on the verge of becoming a household name in New York, since Daniel Boulud opened Bar Boulud with a terrific selection of charcuterie made by a chef, Sylvain Gasdon, imported from Verot's kitchen.



    The day before I polished off the selection at Bar Boulud, I was in Chester, Connecticut having lunch at River Tavern (it's the country cousin of Jonathan Rapp's New York restaurant, Etats-Unis), when James Wayman, one of the cooks, walked through the dining room carrying this beauty, his just made pancetta.


    The pancetta is cured with salt, pepper, brown sugar, juniper, garlic and thyme for 10 days in the fridge and then hung for two weeks, alongside his guanciale, lardo, prosciutto, and beef coppa.

    I'm seeing more and more great homemade charcuterie plates in restaurants around town and hearing about more and more people who are making their own bacon and sausages. This is not a trend I would have predicted a few years ago, but it's certainly a delicious one now.

    Dorie Greenspan, special correspondent


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