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Scoring The Good Stuff At…Barbuzzo
Posted by Jason Sheehan on April 13th, 2011
Photo courtesy Jason Varney/Barbuzzo
So yesterday, buried in a long and rambling post about tiki bars, barbecue and smoking crack in Texas, I informed those of you out there with a serious taste for high-end whiskey about the bottle of Jameson Rarest Vintage being kept up on a high shelf at Village Whiskey. That truly is the good stuff and, in the words of Ferris Bueller, if you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.
Today, I was back on the ground again, wearing out boot leather and looking for more action when I hauled up at Barbuzzo for a fast lunch and saw, written in tiny little letters beneath the pizza section of the menu, “Add La Quercia prosciutto rossa $4.”
Now I know that cured meats in this town are like a religion, so my apologies if I’m speaking to a few of the converted out there. But if you haven’t yet had the chance to taste this stuff? Let me explain what you’re missing.
La Quercia is probably one of the best prosciuttos there is. It beats the pants off of any American prosciutto out there, can stand up proudly against the most traditional Italian varieties, and actually tastes so good that you’d swear it had to come from some crazy one-eyed midget and hog-leg savant who lives in a shack up in the hills of Friuli and only comes down once a year to sell his magical prosciutto to chefs from all over the world.
Only it doesn’t. It’s American (of all friggin’ things), and comes straight out of the historical prosciutto heartland of Norwalk, Iowa–produced by a former agricultural economist from Berkeley and an amateur cook who used to make the stuff in his house before he got the smart idea of selling it. There are a few restaurants around that use the La Quercia, but not nearly as many as should, and even Barbuzzo doesn’t make a big deal out of it: putting the prosciutto rossa on one pizza (the mia pera, which kind of buries the flavor of it beneath pear and gorgonzola and arugula and walnuts) and otherwise only offering it only as an addition to the available pies. It doesn’t even make it onto their cured meat board, which is just insane. If it were up to me, I’d offer it in or on everything–slapping it down on the roasted beet salad, grinding it in with the meatballs, draping it on top of the burgers and hiring someone whose only job would to be to walk around the dining room carrying a tray of it from table to table like an old-fashioned cigarette girl and offering it to strangers on the street when business was slow. I would tuck a piece into every check folder when I delivered the bill and put it on the dessert menu: “A tasting of prosciutto,” which would just be a sherry glass filled with nothing but more La Quercia.
Anyway, that’s just me and I do go a little crazy for the stuff. But if you’re looking to score yourself a bite of the best prosciutto out there, just hit up Barbuzzo and ask. It’s right on the menu. And I’m guessing the kitchen won’t tell you no if you want it served on the side, charcuterie-style, rather than cooked on top of your pizza.
Although, that said, it really does elevate the margherita. So maybe you want to order two sides of it. Or maybe three.
You know, just to be safe.
Barbuzzo
110 S 13th St, Philadelphia, PA 19107
Related Tags: Barbuzzo, cured meats, La Quercia, Unwise Things I've Done In Texas
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April 13th, 2011 at 4:55 pm
you can also get it at DiBruno’s (at least the Center City location), Garces Trading Co. & Whole Foods on South St., where it is actually the least expensive at ~$20/lb
April 13th, 2011 at 5:08 pm
Great write up, Jason. Thanks for sacrificing your afternoon to toil and hard work, so we don’t have to.
April 13th, 2011 at 5:14 pm
@Yoko: Yeah, I saw it on the list at DiBruno’s. And everyone out there should try and get some from Whole Foods now, because as soon as they realize people actually want the stuff (rather than the more recognizable San Danielle), they’re probably going to double the price.
@ScrappleQueen: My pleasure. It’s an ugly job, but someone has to do it…
April 13th, 2011 at 5:27 pm
“And everyone out there should try and get some from Whole Foods now, because as soon as they realize people actually want the stuff (rather than the more recognizable San Danielle), they’re probably going to double the price.”
Huh? It’s been available there for at least a year now. I think they know people want it. Or was that not intended to be a factual statement?
April 13th, 2011 at 6:41 pm
@Buckethead: He’s the new guy. I think he thinks we’re not supposed to know anything about our own city.
April 14th, 2011 at 9:38 am
the dibruno brothers in the italian market has sold it for over 5 years now and also sells la quercia lardo
mmmmmmmmm….lardo
April 14th, 2011 at 9:42 am
So you went to Barbuzzo and all you had was the pizza?
April 14th, 2011 at 12:13 pm
@Montgomery, the DiBruno buyers must have had a time machine because no one in Phila knew about it until jsheehan came and told us.
April 14th, 2011 at 3:55 pm
@Willie: I was a man on a mission, so yes.
@Barryg: In case you missed it, the point here was not whether or not DiBruno had the stuff. I assume that if god were to come down tomorrow, invent a new and delicious animal that could be milked and/or butchered and cured, the resultant cheese and meat would be available at DiBruno’s by early next week. What I was telling people (those who are obviously not so well-connected as you…) was that this very good prosciutto was available for the asking at Barbuzzo and that they might want to try it if they haven’t yet.
In the meantime, if the DiBruno brothers really do have a time machine, I want them to get me some dinosaur steaks.
April 14th, 2011 at 5:07 pm
@Jason: You would need a time machine just to see the DiBruno Brothers. They passed away some years ago and the company is now owned and run by their nephews (who do not carry the last name DiBruno). Heck, if you just read Philadelphia Magazine this month, you would know that.
April 14th, 2011 at 5:51 pm
Alright Jason, so you know where you need to go sometime in the next week – to Barbuzzo for the whole experience. You won’t be disappointed.
April 15th, 2011 at 10:18 am
@jsheehan, it was your claim that it was underpriced at Whole Foods because nobody “actually wanted it” until you wrote this piece that rubbed me and others the wrong way. You could point out that Barbuzzo has an item worth trying for those unfamiliar with it in one line, even just a parenthetical, instead of four paragraphs and would not have been condescending. In any case these Center City discoveries you embellish are probably better suited for the pages of Philly Mag than this blog.
In any case I don’t dislike reading these pieces, I just gotta call bullshit when I see it.