lunch of champions

yuppie crack: fine meats and cheeses
Originally uploaded by deepfry.

with a pile of recipes to mark-up and a house full of distractions, i had no choice today but to head to Provisions to do work. it was roughly lunch time so i figured i should get some food. i ended up with a sort of Atkins-gone-wild meal: beet salad and, pictured, a meat and cheese plate. sopressato, prosciutto salato and four precious slices of culatello with a small wedge of mimolette. if atkins ate like this, its no wonder he died of heart failure. honestly, i tried to do it, but i just couldn't for the life of me get through that plate. it was so rich and so wonderful. i ate all four slices of culatello because it was melt-in-your-mouth goodness. it had the most perfect balance of saltiness and creaminess. the mimolette was initially appealing for its deep bright orange hue. as the cheese ages, it apparently darkens, eventually becoming almost completely black. it's a perfect complement to salty meats, strong enough to hold its own but not too stinky and pungent as to over-power. mmmm....yuppie crack!