Passion for Pork www.PassionforPork.com

Pork Week at Ousia Restaurant

Sharman - Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Pork week at Ousia

Stop two on my pork-week pork crawl with Jaclyn was over to Whyte ave for a bite at Ousia. Less than a year old, this restaurant is a treasure of culinary delights near the corner of 109th street and Whyte ave. I said my hellos to Matthew, the owner, and we settled into a table in the corner of the newly renovated Mediterranean-fusion restaurant.

 

I was loving the special pork week dishes with a diagram of pork cuts on the back of the feature card had us both smiling, especially since the two appetizers featured for the week involved alternative pork cuts. Ousia proudly sources their pork from Irving Farms near Round Hill, so you know a pork dish on the menu at Ousia means a taste of high-quality Alberta Pork.

Ousia`s Owner Matthew Lakis in the kitchen

We were presented with Pigs Head Torchon ($14). Bite size za’atar corn grits served with crab apple chutney and rosemary pork jus were a gluten-free girls dream come true. Beautifully plated and full of flavour, it was far from what anyone might picture pig’s head would look and taste like plated.

 

Next we set our fork on the Trotters Two Ways ($14). (Flip over the feature card to see that trotters are like the ankles). I grew up making headcheese from pork hocks so I’m familiar with this area of the pig, and a big fan of this cut of meat.

 

 

The plate served up a pot of honey braised trotters, bone marrow herb toast (for Jaclyn), zalitina, and herb salad. The pot of braised trotters was rich, delicious and thick like stew.

 

The other way for the trotters, looked slightly gelatinous and reminded me of headcheese. I commend Matthew and his team for pushing the boundaries of what customers might expect. I don’t know if the texture is for everyone, but it was a bite of comfort food that I thoroughly enjoyed. I thought the plate was very unique, and a great way to introduce customers to an alternative cut of pork.

 

The trotters dish wasn’t just a hit with us, Matthew said that one of his costumers was such a fan; he was going to come in every day of pork week. We finished up our second pork night stop at Ousia hoping the Trotters Two Ways makes a reappearing act on the fall menu.

Trotters 2 Ways