Original Article found at: http://www.gremolata.com/Articles/535-Furbizia-and-the-Bean.aspx

In Italian "furbi" means "clever" and, Angelo Bean explained, these times demand furbizia. Furbi also sounds like "4B", which were the ingredients at a recent Toronto dinner: Baco, Barbera, Berkshire and Bean. The last ingredient is becoming increasingly known on the local foodie scene for his innovative sausage making, not least because he was named the 'Sausage King' by a professional panel put together last year by Ivy Knight.

The other three "b's" are intimately tied to Angelo's work, which is guided by a principal he calls "Ontalia", a mix of traditional Italian respect for the ingredient and an emphasis on local ingredients. Berkshire, refers to the heritage breed of naturally raised pork that Angelo uses exclusively. Barbera is the often rough edged and fruity wine from Piedmont. And Baco refers to Baco Noir, the hybrid grape that was abandoned by the French, only to get new life in Niagara. Angelo has been making sausages with Baco from the beginning, using a secret sublimating technique to concentrate the wine without cooking it and infuse his organic pork with a tangy twist of terroir. He calls the result salsiccia ubraica or "drunken sausage".

The idea was to eat a few dishes with Angelo's sausages and salami (he makes dried cured versions), and a pork shin "osso bucco" thrown in too, to see how the Baco fared against the Barbera. The Baco was from Henry of Pelham: both their regular label and their Reserve. The Barbera was from the producer Ascheri. The wines are widely available at the LCBO, where Angelo works as a Senior Product Consultant. Every Saturday, if you visit the board's big store at Summerhill, you'll find Angelo advising some of the city's biggest collectors on what to buy. But for all the Bordeaux and Barolo Angelo has suggested, he retains a soft spot and love for Baco, calling it "the poor child that doesn't know who his mother and father is."

The dinner was held at Grano, Roberto and Lucia Martella's bastion of Italian culture in North Toronto. The crowd was a well heeled group of professionals and food lovers. A quick survey determined many were members of the Toronto Slow Food convivium.  Appropriately Paul de Campo was there as both a representative of Henry of Pelham (he brought the wine) and Slow Food – he's the Co-Leader of the convivium.

The wine writer Billy Munnely had also come out and Angelo asked him to say a few words. Billy's remarked that the two "b" wines served were also great burger (another b) wines and held a characteristic of Italian table wines, that also started with a b: bitterness. He likened the appeal of Barbera and Baco Noir to Guinness, which he has learned to love in his native Ireland. You built a relationship with these wines, and even then they may not give you everything you want, but you come back for another sip. He also remarked he was pleased the wines and the evening brought forward the most important 'b' of all: being at the table.

Paul de Campo also spoke about Baco Noir, commenting that it had really become unique to Ontario and even suggesting that it was an environmentally responsible grape, since it required less fuss in the vineyard. We all raised our glasses to that enjoyed our environmental activism for the evening.

As for the comparison – contest is the wrong word – there wasn't much of a judgement. By many accounts, the regular Henry of Pelham Baco Noir was judged to match the pork osso bucco a bit better than the more expensive Reserve, maybe due to the lack oak. I noticed this didn't stop anyone from drinking both, or the Ascheri Barbera. Everyone was having too much fun anyway.

Malcolm Jolley