At the Table

Peaches and Pork: The Salad of the Summer

By: Hannah Lee Leidy

A great salad is the perfectly balanced sum of contrasting flavors and textures—bitter, rich, salty, sweet, soft, crunchy—using super fresh ingredients. It’s what the snack food industry calls the bliss point, at which human resistance is futile (see: peanut butter-filled pretzels).

Case in point: the pork belly stone fruit salad at Charleston, South Carolina’s year-old paean to regional seafood, Chubby Fish. Chef-owner James London, whose treatment of fish coming out of nearby waters is matched only by his way with local produce, dreamt up the fan favorite after a hog farmer dropped off six pork bellies last summer. Ripe peaches and plums and a handful of herbs lift the lardons into a bright and balanced dish that, as he puts it, “eats nice and clean.” At home, London swaps the pork belly with Benton’s bacon, dusting it with rice flour before rendering for a crisp edge that absorbs the lime dressing and sets the flavors. With grilled fish and a cold txakolina, that’s bliss for you.

James London’s Stone Fruit Salad

Date Published: 07.17.19
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About The Author

Hannah Lee Leidy

Hannah Lee Leidy is a food writer and editor based in the Carolinas. She is currently the digital content editor for Our State magazine, a position she came into following her time at The Local Palate. Her contributions have appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, Bon Appétit, Epicurious, Culture, and Eater. She’s spent time working in restaurants in both front and back of house positions, doing everything from burning gateaux to expediting to shaking a Manhattan (don’t worry, this only happened once). An avid curd nerd, her favorite beat is reporting on boutique cheese makers; she’ll sniff out every creamery near and far whenever traveling. When not parenting a Bernese mountain pup named Ava, you’ll find her running or working on her lamination technique.

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