BRAISED PORK SHOULDER
SPICE RUBBED BERKSHIRE PORK
HOUSE MARMALADE, MASHED POTATOES
Those 8 words do not begin to do justice to this utopian food experience that my stomach just bore witness to.
Listen up America (especially those of you in New Haven or the surrounding area), if you eat no other meal in the next few weeks* take yourself to Caseus in New Haven, CT …and eat this. I love food, but would never consider myself a “foodie”, just a guy who loves to eat, pretty indiscriminately. This evening, however, may have changed that.
I hastily ordered something off of Caseus’ internet menu to utilize my gift certificate that was nearly a year old. I was content with getting their delicious hamburger and frites**, but once the kind waitress came on the phone I hesitated and decided to treat myself. Having little patience for my own indecision I just picked the thing that looked best, and pork it was, braised pork shoulder to be exact.
Upon arriving and seeing my food packed in a little tin, the waitress and I proceeded to have this exchange…
Waitress: “The braised pork shoulder eh?”
Me: (suddenly afraid for the worst) “Umm, yeah, looked good”
Waitress: “It’s delicious, kind of like if you fed a pig a Christmas tree’
Me: (stunned) “______”
Waitress: “Yeah, its great”
Me: (Still stunned but now intrigued) “Yeah, so I have no idea what that would begin to taste like to be honest” (thinking it might taste like evergreen flavored bacon, but that didn’t help either)
Waitress: “Well, its got orange rinds on top and its marinated in orange marmalade”
Me: (ignorant of my order’s details) “Oh, that does sounds excellent”
My friend Dirty Martini has a food setting on her camera that was put there for thngs like this. Too bad this delicacy was all gone before I even thought about a picture, it’s possible that I even licked the plate.***
This is not a food review site, but sometimes you simply have to preach. I think the New York Times puts it best:
“Caseus proves that if you start with great ingredients and cook simply, you can’t go too far wrong”
Because of their fine heritage and history, they must temper their praise, but “…can’t go too far wrong” my ass, this was one of the Top 5 Best Meals I have ever had. Upon getting home and opening the tin with my eyes closed (so I could smell the ‘pig stuffed with Christmas tree’) and was treated to a smell of oranges. Upon opening my eyes I bore witness to a block of pork adorned with thinly sliced (julienne style, for you foodies out there) orange peels. The pork was slightly crispy on the outside, but tender enough to cut with a fork on the inside. The infusion of orange marmalade was a magical touch. The mashed potatoes were creamy and delicious. They might have been garlicky as well, but the “food-gasm” in my mouth was too overtaken but the orange pork explosion to know for sure. The mixture of the orange marmalade pork juice and mashed potatoes has spoiled my tastes buds, hopefully not permanently.****
This was not a meal, rather an indulgence.
Mmm…..satiated and happy
*incidentally, the average human can go about 3 weeks without food.
**fries
***”possible” my ass, I definitely did that
****”orange marmalade pork juice” might ot sounds appealing, but you simply must indulge in it.
