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.
share
trending content
-
10 Recently Opened (and Soon-to-Open) Restaurants Around the South
by Brendan Montesinos -
Meet the Owners of Kisser in Nashville
by Erin Byers Murray -
A First Look at House of Marigold’s Menu
-
Embrace the Edi-slo Lifestyle for Your Next Family Vacation
-
Visitors Can Find Their Beat in Greenwood, Mississippi
More From At the Table
-
Louisa Shafia’s Nowruz Menu
-
Mardi Gras Means King Cake
-
Super Bowl Beer and Food Pairings That Beat the Halftime Show
-
Turning Food Waste Into a Feast
-
Cook the Book: Gullah Geechee Home Cooking