Ukraine’s national dish of pork fat is a dense, white, chewy treat that can become an acquired taste. However, a new restaurant transforms the traditional dish, molding it into kitsch edible sculptures and even “sushi.”
Pork fat is “a cult dish and we decided to turn it into a cult art object,” said Mark Zarkhin, the co-owner of the restaurant.
Known as salo in Ukrainian, the pork fat comes in numerous varieties, ranging from smoked to streaky to pure white blubber. It is often sprinkled with paprika and washed down with a shot of vodka.
Photo: AFP
Named simply “Salo,” Zarkhin’s restaurant opened in June in the western city of Lviv and also markets itself as a museum of the lardy delicacy.
On the menu are kitsch offerings including a copy of the penis of Michelangelo’s David, stuffed with potato dumplings, and an anatomically accurate “Van Gogh’s Ear.”
There is even a local version of Japanese sushi — ubiquitous in Ukraine’s trendy restaurants — made from smoked pork fat.
Zarkhin, a businessman, says the restaurant mildly mocks the national love for salo.
“We are being ironic about ourselves and about our tastes,” he said.
However, he himself raves about the food’s versatility, insisting that it can be much more than a savory snack.
“People think of salo as either salty or smoked. They can hardly believe that this food can be more like cream. You add some ginger and cinnamon and it becomes a wonderful filling for chocolates,” he said.
The menu even offers desserts of whipped pork fat dipped in chocolate and a frozen “ice cream” dish based on actress Marilyn Monroe’s famous pout, called “Monroe’s Lips.”
The restaurant is aimed more at tourists than locals in the country’s poorer western region. Prices go up to 200 hryvnas (US$25) for the most expensive dish, David’s penis, which serves three.
The interior is scattered with objets d’art made from pork fat, including a model of a human heart, complete with a motor to simulate its beating — but without the blocked arteries likely to ensue from over-indulgence.
Visitors were enthusiastic about the restaurant.
“Wow, this is amazing,” said Maria Alexeyeva, who was visiting from Kiev with her sister Anna. “It’s very good and the interior is really cute. There’s nothing like this in Kiev.”
Zarkhin opened the restaurant together with a German artist of Ukrainian origin, Boris Berger, who came up with the idea.
“At the start, we weren’t sure this could be done,” he said. “Our chefs were also baffled ... but after three months of reflection, we finally got there.”
He is keen for the restaurant to become known as a gallery and has invited a series of artists to create sculptures from pork fat.
“Pork fat is a new material for art. Yes, it doesn’t last long, but neither does ice and it is used for sculptures all over the world,” he said.
VENEZUELAN ACTION: Marco Rubio said that previous US interdiction efforts have not stemmed the flow of illicit drugs into the US and that ‘blowing them up’ would US President Donald Trump on Wednesday justified a lethal military strike that his administration said was carried out a day earlier against a Venezuelan gang as a necessary effort by the US to send a message to Latin American cartels. Asked why the military did not instead interdict the vessel and capture those on board, Trump said that the operation would cause drug smugglers to think twice about trying to move drugs into the US. “There was massive amounts of drugs coming into our country to kill a lot of people and everybody fully understands that,” Trump said while hosting Polish President
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
A French couple kept Louise, a playful black panther, in an apartment in northern France, triggering panic when she was spotted roaming nearby rooftops. The pair were were handed suspended jail sentences on Thursday for illegally keeping a wild animal, despite protesting that they saw Louise as their baby. The ruling follows a September 2019 incident when the months-old feline was seen roaming a rooftop in Armentieres after slipping out of the couple’s window. Authorities captured the panther by sedating her with anesthetic darts after she entered a home. No injuries were reported during the animal’s time on the loose. The court in the
Another tanker carrying liquefied natural gas from Russia’s sanctioned Arctic LNG (liquefied natural gas) 2 project has docked in a Chinese port, ship-tracking data showed, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing. The London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) tracking data indicated the Russian Voskhod LNG tanker was anchored at an LNG terminal in the port of Tieshan in Guangxi, China. The Russian flagged tanker, with a cargo of 150,000 cubic meters of LNG, was loaded up at the Arctic LNG 2 facility in Gydan in northern Siberia on July 19, LSEG data showed.
RSS