Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Salumeria Rosi

38-39. Salumeria Rosi
283 Amsterdam Ave between 73rd and 74th



Cesare Casella was the chef and owner of Maremma, a Tuscan-Italian restaurant in the West Village which my girlfriend and I enjoyed tremendously. We were pretty upset when we heard that Cesare was closing Maremma but I understand the allure of opening a grocery store selling Italian meats. When I visited the store to pick up TONY's recommended Prosciutto di Parma ($6 per quarter pound), the small eatery was bustling with customers lined up at the counter and all the dine-in seats taken. I picked up some Porchetta Toscana ($4 per quarter pound) and with the Finocchiona that my girlfriend had picked up for me, I was ready to see what Cesare had to offer.



Dubbed "the Ferrari of Italian pork products", the prosciutto was mild flavored, soft, fatty with an almost cheesy consistency. I could probably sit and eat a good pound of it, slice by slice and it would be one of the best charcuterie plates ever. While, I preferred the prosciutto to the finocchiona on its own merit, I would probably choose the finocciona for a sandwich. Finocchiona ($4 per quarter pound) is described as “a zippy, Tuscan-style salame, seasoned heavily with fennel, or finocchio. The salami is thinly slice and each piece is full of salty, meaty flavor and pieces of fennel. A quarter pound is probably enough for 1-1/2 sandwiches and is a bargain for $4.00. While certainly a solid option, the porchetta toscana clearly fell behind the other two champions of salami. Skip the processed meat from the grocery store and pick up as much salami as you can from Cesare.


Prosciutto di Parma & Porchetta Toscana:


Finocchiona:

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