The crew at Fresh & Bangin’ Eatery know people will react.
They will ooh and ah. Some will envy the culinary daring of those at the awaiting table. A few may even silently question their own ability to confront the dish.
That is why wait staff parade the pork shank for all to see. It is a hulking hunk of meat, rustic and imposing – until you touch it with a fork and its will collapses, exceedingly tender pork dropping from the bone.
It may seem out of place alongside menu offerings of ceviche, calamari, steak and seared mahi mahi. Like a quaint still life from some talented unknown hand stealing attention from an exhibit of Picasso or Dali, the lowly shank deserves attention.
Chef John Arslanian treats the primitive cut with great care. He mellows it in a sous vide bath with carrots, celery, thyme, coriander and other seasonings before braising – a process consuming up to 36 hours.
The result is both homey and noble. From the folding strands of meat, a dense, earthy savor seeps onto the plate. Hints of vegetal sweetness and the inscrutable banter of herbs develop a riveting eloquence as they mingle with a thin broth of tangy tomato spike with cumin and paprika.
“We like to build flavors,” Arslanian said – an understatement that falls short of explaining how a piece of meat so ruddy and uncivil in appearance can suddenly captivate with deft artistry, how a cut toughened ranging for fodder drapes like cashmere on the plate.
It might be enough that Arslanian and his partner, Scott Parker, brought out the beauty in this beast. Yet there is more to the dish.
A shaped mound of quinoa complements a nutty trace in the pork and offers a neat textural contrast. Arslanian maintains the feel and the tones often lost to cooking time by pulling grain from the heat. The burrowing flavor and keen pop of the grain would be enough in most venues. Arslanian slips in a subtle, earthy spice – cayenne in the fore – that seeks out lingering notes from the tomato broth.
It’s a clever brushstroke. But on occasions when the crew plates grilled squash alongside, what would otherwise be considered as a key to the plate’s perspective, the quinoa takes a step back, becoming a line implying depth in the overall piece.
The squash – oh, the squash. Although tossed with Tuscan blend olive oil from Chacewater Winery & Olive Mill and seared on the grill, thin slices of the squash retain their fresh snap. Dashes of salt and pepper somehow lend a rich meatiness to the lean vegetable.
Arslanian credits local olive oil.
“I just like the earthiness,” he said.
If Fresh & Bangin’ were a gallery, the pork shank would be that canvas presenting a common scene, crafted with such inventiveness that novice and expert will gape. No wonder they like to show it off.
Dave Faries can be reached at 900-2016
