Food: Charcuterie and Me

I'm timid about the pig. And I'll be the first one to admit that I'm not a real foodie because I cringe at the nasty bits.
I spent almost ten years as a vegetarian, two of those as a vegan, and a couple of years afterwords as a somewhat guilty pescevegetarian. Then I discovered that, yes, I really do like meat. I just tend to like it lean (as in: I will sacrifice bits of meat just to make sure I have cut away all of the fat. Remember Jack Sprat? Yeah, I'm Jack), and to be quite honest, as far away from the animal as possible. In short, unless I have had a pre-dinner drink (or three), I am a gigantic wuss when it comes to dead animals that I am meant to consume.
Have I mentioned that I live in a foodie city, in the Midwest (aka 'Where Piggies Go To Die'), with a devoted lover of all foods porcine? Yeah.
So I've been eating pancetta, salsicca, and thick, grilled chops. Fine. I'll admit they're pretty good.

We recently discovered Salume Beddu, and were thrilled to add this wonderful shop run by friendly and passionate people to our list of favorite local go-to foodie suppliers. We picked up a few things to impress our dinner guests that night, and this is what it looked like:

Every year, I'm so glad I planted basil...

Companion always makes a tasty bread...

And I love these little jewel-like black grape tomatoes we picked up at the Tower Grove Farmer's Market...

I loved the cozy interior of Salume Beddu...

I'm not completely sold on the pig yet, but with products like these, I could learn to love even the nasty bits.... maybe...