D’Angelo Bros.’ pancetta, buffalo and wild boar prosciuttos, lardo, and wild boar salami. TGG.
PHILADELPHIA—In September I had the pleasure of attending a wedding in a small town called Castiglione del Lago in Italy’s Umbria region. Since I returned, I’ve been terribly fixated on Italian culture. Appeasing my desire to relive the vacation, I reproduce the experiences by drinking espresso on East Passyunk Avenue, listening to Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane album, and shopping for authentic Italian foods on the Italian Market.The wedding reception was held at Café Noir, located on the pristine shore of Lake Trasimeno.
We feasted on a five-course meal, during which I discovered a new recipe of the popular Italian dish of lasagna. This lasagna was made with a blend of mascarpone and ricotta cheeses layered between the pasta. The tomato sauce was cooked with ground wild boar. The sauce was drizzled on top of the lasagna along with hearty chunks of boar meat and melted mozzarella. In Italian wild boar is called cinghiale (pronounced: cheen-GYAH-lay).
Cinghiale—Italian for Wild Boar
Lasagna with cinghiale, mascarpone and ricotta cheeses served at Café Noir in Castiglione del Lago, Umbria, Italy. TGG.
Ricotta cheese is the standard in Italian-American lasagna; yet the surprising addition of mascarpone was delicious. It gave the dish a creamier texture. This new recipe stuck in my mind for months to follow.
Once back in South Philly, it was easy to buy the ingredients to recreate this Italian dish. At Claudio’s Specialty Foods on the Italian Market, I bought the mascarpone, and across the street at D’Angelo Bros., I purchased wild boar.
Upon entering D’Angelo Bros., Santo D’Angelo III, “Sonny,” third-generation owner and operator of the business, greeted me. For small talk, I confessed I’ve always seen his business as one of game meat only. I had walked by his shop a thousand times. Always seeing exotic meats in the window, I never thought to go in for the basic such as beef, chicken, pork, or turkey.
Sonny quickly put me in my place: “I don’t specialize in game meat,” he said.”I specialize in great meat.”
Santo D’Angelo III, “Sonny,” takes pride in offering high quality products. He sells a variety of meats including exotic, game and domestic—from boar to buffalo, kangaroo to kobe, veal to venison. If he doesn’t have what you want, he’ll get it for you. TGG.
According to D’Angelo, the wild boar has a pronounced pork flavor with an undertone of mushrooms. The wild boar is his most popular sausage.
He adds lingonberries and cranberries to this sausage, giving it a slightly sweet taste, which complements the distinct pork flavor. D’Angelo also makes salami and prosciutto from wild boar.
D’Angelo began working in the business over 50 years ago when he was 13 years old.The butcher shop was founded by his grandfather, Santo D’Angelo I, who emigrated from Sicily in 1910. Sonny is quite the expert, being both artist and tradesman of old-world butchery.
“There are butchers and there are meat-cutters,” says D’Angelo. “The butcher is proud of what he sells, and the meat-cutter is simply taking meat out of a box.”
D’Angelo believes the trade is not dead but has come full circle. Supermarkets still pose a threat to the small business, but since the advent of reality-TV cooking shows, young people are actually paying to learn the trade. D’Angelo pointed to the fact that chefs are now celebrities, and thanks to shows like Food Network’s Iron Chef America, men no longer feel ashamed to cook.
Specialty Homemade Sausages
Ada Farrell, of Ambler, Pa., has been shopping at D’Angelo’s for many years. She says bringing D’Angelo Bros.’ specialty sausages is always a crowd-pleaser. She grills the sausages, slices them, and provides a mustard or some other dipping sauce.It doesn’t even matter if the food gets cold.
“By the end of the party the sausages are all gone,” says Farrell.
D’Angelo Bros. offer a variety of specialty homemade sausages. Above: Boudin Blanc (chicken with cream and mushrooms), veal and broccoli, wild boar, venison, and duck sausages. TGG.
Farrell loves to surprise her guests. At her next party, she plans on serving grilled ostrich tenderloin and is considering an alligator dish. Aside from the exotic meats, Farrell’s favorite sausage from D’Angelo Bros. is the Lugano, a Northern Italian pork sausage with spinach, pine nuts, and light spices.
She also praises the chicken, saying, “They are small as they should be.”
They are small because D’Angelo does not buy animals that are hybridized for size. D’Angelo buys from local ranchers and farms whenever suitable—that is to say, when ranchers and farmers produce to his standards. According to D’Angelo, all of his products are organic and free-range. He also claims that all of their products are free of antibiotics, hormones and pesticides.
Accustomed to the usual domestic Italian pork sausage, I experimented with D’Angelo Bros.’ wild boar sausage instead. Made with lingonberries and cranberries, it adds a distinct taste to the traditional Italian-American bowl of gravy. TGG.
The shop’s game meat is relatively healthy: It is high in protein and nearly absent of fat. D’Angelo says the difference between game meat and domestic meat is that on game meat, the fat is exterior and can be cut off, whereas with ordinary beef, the fat is marbled throughout the cut and cannot be removed.
Higher Quality, Higher Prices
D’Angelo Bros.’ products are more expensive than meats from the local supermarkets. D’Angelo notes that good products cost more than lower quality products.
“Cheap prices mean cheap products,” he says. “Would you rather drive a Mercedes or a Hyundai?”
Nick DiBello, from Our Lady of Cavalry Parish in Northeast Philadelphia, has been shopping at D’Angelo’s for over 10 years. DiBello, owner of Nu-Look Car Wash, says that he’s not rich but his passion in life is food, so he doesn’t mind spending a little extra money.
“You get what you pay for,” says DiBello.
D’Angelo has been in the business for over 50 years. He’s not only a tradesman butcher but also a talented painter and the author of two cookbooks: “And Now We Call It Gravy” and “Are You Game?” TGG.
He also notes that no one else around sells the products D’Angelo Bros. carry. Some of DiBello’s favorites are the Colorado lamb, which he says is better than the New Zealand lamb, and the Kobe steak. DiBello often grills his meats with a white truffle oil and cracked black pepper and light salt. He trusts the quality of D’Angelo Bros.’ products, and he appreciates the special care that D’Angelo provides. When DiBello ordered veal tenderloin, D’Angelo aged it for him.
“You can’t get his quality at the supermarket,” says DiBello.
D’Angelo Bros. is located at 909 South 9th St. For more information, visit http://dangelobros.com.
The Good Gusto 