CA + USA = CA Fun

...That's the Canadian and the American, Gord and Gordette, in California! We took a great trip out to the San Francisco area and saw great scenery, great relatives and....ate GREAAAATTTT pork. Actually, we ate a whole lot of great food, but pork in particular.

But first....I have to rage a bit on this stuff in the United States called Canadian Bacon. It bears no resemblance to peameal bacon, and as far as I'm concerned it is not real tasty stuff. None the less, you'll find it everywhere on pizzas, benedicts. To set the world straight, peameal is boneless cured pork loin rolled in cornmeal, not what is commonly known in the United States as "Canadian Bacon" which is basically a smoked ham. My elementary school friend called Canadian bacon "minced ham"....it looks like its formed and rolled and is just tooooo shiny and vinyl-looking for me. Save yourself and use peameal for your benedict and pizzas...much better eating.

Back to San Francisco. Everyone knows about all the neighborhoods...Nob Hills, the Mision District, the North End, the Castro... and sights...Fisherman's Wharf, the Coit tower, boat rides in the bay, the Golden Gate bridge and park.

We did a lot of that...

And we also had a wonderful GASTRONOMIC time at the Ferry Building Market, pictured here. We rode the California Street cable car down and wandered over to the market. It was Saturday and the Farmer's market was on, too. Local produce, cheeses, meat, bread. We walked through and then headed inside the Ferry Building to see what was in there...


Fish, of course. Great oysters at Hog Island Oysters
http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/hog_island_oyster_company.php ...we ate there twice...one can never have too many oysters and a microbrew.

And artisan cheese at Cowgirl Creamery...try the Red Hawk, you won't be disappointed(http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/cowgirl_creamery.php)

And PORK...at Boccalone (http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/boccalone_shop_page.php.) Here's what this little place says about itself:
"Boccalone Salumeria is the first retail location of the artisanal salumi venture from Chris Cosentino and Mark Pastore of Incanto Restaurant. The Salumeria features more than 20 varieties of Boccalone’s handmade cured meats. Boccalone’s salumi are handcrafted in small batches across the Bay in Oakland, using sustainably raised, heritage-breed pork and the highest quality spices and salts."

It is wonderful quality, and one of the best parts....you can get salami in a paper cone! Little bites if you're not hungry enough for a sandwich. I had the regular and would go for the premium cone next time to see what it's like.


As we toured around the city, we encountered great pizza (clam and garlic!), petrolli sole prepared in a variety of ways and tasty sushi prepared in little restaurants with fresh ingredients, prepared by people who really care about their food. Needless to say, we could have eaten at any number of national chain restaurants, but for us, LOCAL is the best.

Happy September! See you next month. Comments are always welcome at Gord's.

Gordette