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Meet Scott Weiss

Scott Weiss
Scott Daniel Weiss, the butcher at Via Umbria, is a Northern Virginia native who, a few years ago, realized he liked eating more than almost anything else. He had this realization for the first time while studying abroad in South Tyrol, Alto Adige, in the land of speck. But, he continued to have this realization over and over again while plowing through an undergraduate education in North Carolina, home of the best barbecue on planet Earth (he's pretty sure this is a scientific fact). After finishing a year in Scotland learning the simple joys of not wasting off pieces of meat (really, haggis is delicious, people), Scott returned home to a brief career in food service and aggresively teaching himself how to cook, with no small amount of help from his foodie folks in his off hours. All this drove Scott step by step towards going whole hog and learning butchery. Now he's happy to bring you the best meats money can buy, cured or raw. Stop by the Via Umbria meat counter and plan some dinner!

A Culinary Event of Pork Proportions

I’m always a bit timid about large scale food or drink events, they tend to turn to a nice series of lines to wait in. So, I was a bit unsure of what to expect when I went to Cochon555 the other day. A nominal competition anchoring a series of pork-centered events, Cochon555 brings in several chefs, each partnered with a local pig farmer to deliver three pork dishes, in order to raise funds and awareness about the importance of local farms and humanely raised livestock. Let me tell you, this quickly turned into one of the most delicious evenings I have had in a long time. From sausage tartare to coney-style hot dogs, spring rolls to sliders; it never ceases to amaze me how much one can do with pork. If the only thing that you think of when you think of eating pork is overcooked grilled pork chop served alongside something sweet, you don’t know what you’re missing out on. Which brings me to something else that I noticed there: all of these doctored up little pork things were just variations of simple things that any home cook could do. From a slow cooked pork shoulder to reforming a sausage into the shape of a burger: don’t be intimidated by cooking pork. It can end up being the most forgiving and rewarding meat to cook.

The centerpiece of the event, however, was a “pop-up” butcher shop that followed a demonstration. The master butcher, who later told me how happy he was to see butchery reemerging after so many years as a dying art, and a chef broke down a small pig in under thirty minutes. It was a sight to behold. I’ve experienced it before, but participating in or observing this process never ceases to be a humbling experience. You are watching a transformation: from an animal into recognizable food. Food that you could have picked up at the grocery store. The respect gained from just a little bit of knowledge of this process goes a long way, I think. First of all, you begin to pay more attention to where your meat comes from, how it was treated, and what it ate. Second of all, you make sure you buy the right cut for what you’d want to make.

Breaking Down a Pig

That’s where I come in! Come by the butcher shop with some ideas and we can work together to make sure you have exactly what you need. I can receive special orders and work with you to make sure you get precisely what you want, or whatever your recipe calls for. It is amazing how easy cooking can be when you are using the right ingredients. And we can get you the right ingredients!

Scott Weiss
Scott Weiss

A recap of Cochon555 Read more

I’m always a bit timid about large scale food or drink events, they tend to turn to a nice series of lines ...

Bring on Grilling Season

I haven’t written much about my recent trip to Italy yet. There’s quite simply too much to say, if I wanted to convey how much I saw and learned on this expedition. Instead, I’ll focus on a single simple experience: watching my steak grilling – right in front of me.. Driving to Norcia, the walled town in southern Umbria famed for its excellent cured pork and as the home of some heady saints (Saint Benedict of Nursia and his sister Saint Scholastica), Chef Simone, informed me of a plan to stop for dinner on the way back north. But for now, we headed on to Norcia. This town was swimming in little butcher shops. Mostly selling the local cured pork and wild boar products, norcineria. The prosciutto here was so well-balanced: nutty, sweet, salty, that I was ready to write the USDA and complain about their importation requirements right then and there. And it sure didn’t help that we were trying this in a little restaurant on the main piazza in the shadow of St. Benedict and his church. I could go on and on, but we’ll save that for another time.

Hanging Sausages

After leaving the dizzying array of hanging cured meats behind us, we headed to the mountainside town where dinner was on the agenda. There certainly wasn’t much to this town, a few cafes and restaurants, with a truffle museum being the only real tourist attraction. The restaurant destination was a little osteria that felt more like a basement than a restaurant. Vaulted stone sealing, maybe ten tables, and a raging fireplace. Flanking the fireplace, a table with a whole prosciutto, sliced only by hand, made by the chef from pigs he raised himself. Above that, links of his dried sausage. This was the definition of comfortable.

For our main course, we ordered a steak, rare. To cook it, he brought out a little metal grill, placed in front of the fire and started moving the hot coals underneath it. Before too long, there was a massive steak sizzling right there in front of us. I was beside myself. Here I am, on an Italian mountainside, watching my steak being grilled right in front of me: on the floor of the restaurant. And unsurprisingly, looking at glowing hot coals, my mind wandered and I remembered all the times we grilled growing up.

Sizzling Steak

Fortunately for me, with this memory in mind, it’s starting to warm up here. What I mean to say is, it is almost time for us to start grilling too. We may not be able to cook up a steak right in our fireplaces, but we sure can cook on the open flame. At the Via Umbria meat counter, we’re ready. Having seen this steak transformed from raw meat into delicious dinner right in front of me, I think we should translate that experience to our own backyards. Whether it’s a prime cut that you’ve heard of: the ribeye, the New York strip, the fiorentina, or an off cut you may never have tried before: the hanger, the bavette, teres major, let’s throw that beef over some hot coals (or gas flame, if that’s what’s available). I’ll likely never have that experience again, coming immediately from one of the meat capitals of the world to fireplace-cooked steak; but we can make something just as delicious in our own backyards. So come on down, get a steak. Bring on grilling season!

 

Scott Weiss
Scott Weiss

Let’s throw that beef over some hot coals Read more

I haven’t written much about my recent trip to Italy yet. There’s quite simply too much to say, if I wanted to ...

A Bounty of Bacon

BACON! Okay, now that I have your attention let’s have a little chat, because bacon is a bit more complicated than you thought. One of the few cured meats that is meant to be cooked, bacon is most famous in the United States for its place on the breakfast plate. To get there, bacon goes through a multistep process that can involve curing, smoking, and pan frying (ah, the sizzling). This bacon is usually belly, and is almost always smoked. In fact, most of the unique flavors between different American bacons come from the wood used in the smoking process. The tradition of bacon for breakfast comes from the British Isles, where the most common kind of “rashers” are cut from the loin (think more like Canadian bacon). Leaner than the belly, this is a bacon that is cut a bit thicker than in the American tradition, and is chewy and meaty–not crispy. Either way, it’s tasty.

Pancetta

Here at Via Umbria, however, we also draw from the Italian bacon traditions: pancetta. Pancetta is the belly of the pig, cured into bacon just like here. The most crucial difference from the American bacon, however, is that it isn’t smoked and is sometimes rolled. In fact, most of the Italian pancetta you can find stateside is the rolled variety. Not so at Via Umbria; we primarily carry a “slab” of pancetta, that on a quick glance looks almost exactly like your typical breakfast bacon. This is not because the slab is different in any way from the rolled, just that better quality producers are mostly electing not to roll their pancettas. The use of the bacon is different too. Rather than slicing thickly and panfrying, you slice thin and eat raw. Or you dice and use as the base of an excellent sauce.

American Bacon and Jowciale

Bacon doesn’t stop there! In Umbria, and other areas of central Italy, you wouldn’t use pancetta. Instead, the choice is guanciale. Guanciale translates literally as cheek, and is produced in a fashion similar to pancetta, but using the jowl of the pig rather than the belly. It is usually fattier, and thus richer in flavor. I find that it is a superb addition to any charcuterie plate, the fat deliciously contrasts the meatiness of a prosciutto and the seasoned flavor of a salami. Also excellent for cooking, guanciale is the only real base of the carbonara and the amtriciana. American producers are catching on and making their own, sometimes putting their own American spin on it! You may have seen these on menus as “face bacon.” We carry one called jowciale, which is hickory smoked in Virginia and is fantastic when used to cook greens or pan-fried and put on a BLT or a burger.

However you like your bacon, we’re ready to meet your needs! Come have a chat with me at the butcher counter and we’ll make sure to have one that has you salivating.

 

Scott Weiss
Scott Weiss

Bacon is more complicated than you thought Read more

BACON! Okay, now that I have your attention let’s have a little chat, because bacon is a bit more complicated than you ...

In Search of the Perfect Ham

In my first blog post, I mentioned an aged country ham from southern Virginia. I was referring to the sublime Surryano Ham by Edwards Virginia Smokehouse. The name is a pun on the Serrano hams of Spain and the smokehouse’s location in Surry, Virginia, only a stone’s throw from the origin of the famed (and now mass-produced) Smithfield Hams.

This hickory-smoked ham is designed to be sliced thin and eaten raw like prosciutto or jamón. But the Surryano is even smokier even than the Südtiroler Speck (Speck Alto Adige) that we carry regularly. Despite the reputation that American cured meats are inferior to their European counterparts, chefs across the nation agree that this ham rivals any other prosciutto. Furthermore, Edwards Virginia Smokehouse embodies what we so value about Italian cuisine: attention to locality and quality. Edwards uses locally raised heritage breed hogs, as Italians have done for centuries, to create products that Americans have been making for centuries.

The famous Surryano Ham.
The famous Surryano Ham.

Now comes the sad part: in mid-January, Edwards Virginia Smokehouse burned down, losing all of its inventory. The Surryano Ham, which must be aged for two years, will not return for a while.

Here at Via Umbria, I originally wanted to carry an American ham as a point of comparison to our Italian prosciutto crudos. I began digging thorugh laods of ham literature, so looking for a ham that could live up to Surryano’s legacy. I found a few promising producers and reached out for samples. The first, Colonel Bill Newsom’s Aged Kentucky Country Hams, responded the same day with a personal call from the owner, Nancy Newsom Mahaffey. The Newsom family has been making country hams commercially for several generations, and the family tradition goes even further back.

Nancy's Preacher Ham.
Nancy’s Preacher Ham.

I decided on two hams, both of which are now in our case at Via Umbria. The BBQ Ham is a cooked ham which Nancy calls a “Preacher Ham,” because you only want the best for the preacher on Sundays! It’s a smoky deli ham that’s great solo and would send you to the moon in a sandwich. We also stocked up on prosciutto. This is a dry cured country ham, cold-smoked, and aged breathing the open air of Kentucky! Its not quite as in-your-face smoky as the Surryano, but still amazing. We’re talking a complex balance of sweet and salty, of smoky and porky. It’s a testament to what American curing traditions can achieve—and I’m not the only one who thinks so. The “Preacher Ham” is the first (and only) American ham on display in Spain’s Museo del JamónNancy was the first American and the first woman to be invited to the World Congress of Dry Cured Hams. This “prosciutto” is really something to behold, and I’m really excited to work directly with a producer with such high attention to tradition and quality.

 

Scott Weiss

A complex balance Read more

In my first blog post, I mentioned an aged country ham from southern Virginia. I was referring to the sublime Surryano Ham ...

Virginian Charcuterie, Italian Style

Last week, I had a visit from Filippo Gambassi, the owner of one of our newest charcuterie purveyors, Terra di Siena. Terra di Siena is a Tuscan salumi producer. Over the last two years, they’ve started making their signature charcuteries in Virginia, more than 4,000 miles away from Tuscany. Lovers of Italian cured meat will ask, how is this possible? The pigs are different, they’re eating different food – even the air is different! Filippo, whose family has been making charcuterie for generations, understands that too. At his farm in Virginia, he has built facilities that replicate Tuscany’s rich environment. Additionally, he has worked with breeders, scientists and farmers to make sure that his heirloom pigs are authentic to the Tuscan tradition. And he’s made great progress.

Now, subtle differences aside, Filippo’s product in the USA is already excellent. Here at Via Umbria, we carry a number of different salumi and whole-cured muscles, including Terra di Siena’s prosciutto. And, let me tell you, it’s some of the best stuff in our case. So, stop on by and ask for a sample! Regardless of whether you ask for salumi or salami, you’ll be getting the best cut in town.

 

Scott Weiss
Scott Weiss

Replicating Tuscany's signature meat in the US Read more

Last week, I had a visit from Filippo Gambassi, the owner of one of our newest charcuterie purveyors, Terra di Siena. Terra ...

The Basics on Ham

charcuterie-and-cheese
Did you know that Prosciutto is often called “The King of Hams”?

Of all the charcuterie items you’ve ever heard of, ham is the one you’re probably most familiar with, sometimes probably even without even knowing it! In fact, it is possibly the one truly international cured meat, with different styles ranging from the prosciuttos of Italy to the jamons of Spain to the country hams of North America all the way to the Jinhua ham of China (one that is unfortunately forbidden from being imported).

Coming from the hind leg of the hog, ham can be placed in two basic categories: cooked or raw, or as we say in Italian cotto o crudo. But raw is, in this case, a misnomer. These are the cured hams that are arguably the most delicious way to enjoy the ham. Here at Via Umbria, we are proud to carry six different styles of ham. Two imported prosciutto crudos from the towns of Parma and San Daniele in Italy, after which they are named. On top of that, we are excited to introduce an amazing prosciutto crudo made here in Virginia, by a family business that has, and continues, to make Tuscan-style charcuterie in Tuscany: Terra di Siena. Right along with these are two smoked hams, a speck from Alto Adige/Südtirol in the very north of Italy and an aged country ham from southside Virginia. They vary in the woods they are smoked with but both are excellent sliced thin as with any prosciutto. And to round this out, we have a phenomenal prosciutto cotto that would make for an excellent sandwich. This is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to hams, and we are excited to keep on digging deeper in to the world of cured meats.

This is just the beginning. To learn more, and indulge in our delicious deli offerings, join Scott, our Salami Swami, at our Meat & Greet event on Wednesday, February 3rd, at 7pm. Nosh like a Norcino on charcuterie and pork-based dishes, and partake in conversation with fellow food lovers. For more information or to book your reservation visit us online or call us at (202) 333-3904.

 

Scott Weiss
Scott Weiss

Possibly the one truly international cured meat Read more

Of all the charcuterie items you’ve ever heard of, ham is the one you're probably most familiar with, sometimes probably even without even ...