Some of you may remember the famous line by John Landau, music critic and later record producer, published in 1974: “I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen.”
His words sprang to mind yesterday as I left the Cremona province estate owned and managed by the amazing Carlo Fiorani (above) — rancher, farmer, pork butcher, baker, and brewmaster.
Carlo grows his own wheat and makes his own bread.
That’s his classic Pugliese olive bread in the basket above.
He raises his own pigs and makes his own salumi.
Those are his cotechini in his aging room.
He farms his own barley for his line of beers.
That’s his Belgian blonde. “Orzomio” means literally my barley.
His salame, considered one of the best artisanal salamis in Italy today, was as creamy as butter (for real).
Beyond the incredible texture and consistency, I was really impressed by how the flavors were so evenly distributed between the fat and meat.
He prepared a pork loin from one of his pigs and then seared it — without any oil, other type of fat, or salt — in a non-stick pan to show us how flavorful it is.
The pink of the meat was like sashimi in terms of its tenderness. Considering how wholesome his ranching and farming are, you could probably eat his pork raw.
He also sells preserves and eggs from his farm. Here’s his product page.
His entire estate — once a commercial corn farm owned and managed by his parents — is farmed without the use of pesticides or herbicides. No additives are used in any of his products.
Over lunch he shared his interest in Texas BBQ and BBQ in general. We’re already planning his visit to Texas: in the light of his admiration for Texas smokers, he agreed that his first stop in the U.S. has to be in the Lone Star state.
Beyond what an all-around cool and hip guy he is, Carlo has all the right stuff to continue building his brand in Italy and beyond.
Carlo’s also a graduate of the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Piedmont where I’m currently teaching (he was a member of the first graduating class). He speaks English perfectly, he’s actively engaged in social media, and au courant on international food trends etc.
Man, there’s no stopping this dude. And the world will only be better for it… Seek out his products when you’re in Italy next. You’ll thank me.
In the fall of 2012, an older white man in a pick-up truck pulled into the parking lot of the post office in the Austin, Texas-area middle-class neighborhood where my wife Tracie and I used to live with our two young daughters.
It was remarkable to re-read the piece this morning.
Back in my grad school days, my dissertation advisor — the great Milanese poet Luigi Ballerini — used to boast that he would never let our department become a fabbrica dei disoccupati, a factory churning out unemployable graduates.
What a meal last night at 
Last night, I had the immensely good fortune of being a guest in the home of professor 
For the wine pairing, he told us, you need a white with enough body to stand up to the saltiness and fattiness of the dish. He highly approved of Michele’s Van Volxem 2011 Saar Riesling (above). 
I’ll be heading out tonight for the town of Bra in Piedmont, Italy, where I’ll be teaching a seminar on wine writing for the Master’s in Wine Culture program at the University of Gastronomic Sciences — the Slow Food university (
Above: my wine writing Master’s class last year at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Piedmont, Italy. Next week I’ll be teaching both print-media and digital-era wine writing to a new group of Master’s students there. Enrollment in next year’s Master’s Program in Wine Culture, Communication, and Management is now open. 
Yesterday, after a month-long hiatus, we’ve picked up on 
Photo by 
Above: the selection of California wines at the Houston Wine Merchant is excellent, with a wide range of styles and price points. 
Above: Prince Alessandrojacopo Boncompagni Ludovisi and I will be presenting a flight of his family’s Fiorano wines stretching back to the 1980s on December 7 at Rossoblu in Los Angeles. He’s flying in especially for the occasion. I’m so super geeked about this!
Do Bianchi 