Kids in the (Euclid) Hall: Zany Young Gun Jorel Pierce
Ever seen the French fur trappers sketch, where Dave Foley & Kevin McDonald paddle their canoe down office hallways to catch businessmen in their snares, clubbing them to death for their Armani & Fendi pelts?
That's nice. It's not really relevant, except to the extent that Jen Jasinski's chef de cuisine at Euclid Hall Bar & Kitchen, Jorel Pierce, is another Kid in the Hall who likes to butcher & skin stuff. Like this pig.
Among the stellar results are these Buffalo-style pig ears;
beautifully breaded & fried—crisp & greaseless on the outside—these strips of porcine appendage are themselves just pure, melting fat, unrecognizable to the squeamish as sense organs (unless you hold them up to your own ear—then you can just make out the oinks & mud-sucking sounds of the sty!). The accompanying hot sauce, paired with ranch dressing, is just terrific, as fruity as it is spicy thanks to the inclusion of…no fruit at all, but rather carrots. (The 2 sauces are mixed together for the cheese curds; technically, according to a Wisconsinite I spoke with, they're supposed to be eaten as close to the source as possible as soon after their manufacture as possible, but Pierce goes the next-best route by obtaining them directly from a Dairy State producer. Never having had the freaky pleasure of squeezing fresh curds between my teeth to hear their famous squeak myself, I can't say with any authority how Euclid Hall's nuggets stack up. I can only point out that it's fried cheese—ergo awesome.)
On the gentler side, Pierce is also a keen pickler (not to say a Cabbage Head, though there is kimchi on the duck foie gras poutine),
obtaining all manner of curious cucumber varieties (plus other veggies) from Thistle Whistle Farm in Hotchkiss for the seasonal selection he offers—
each pickled differently in wine & hops & herbs: some sweet & sour, some spicy, some mild & fruity. I especially hearted the basil-brined cuke on the right, which I could've sworn Pierce called a "punotera," but I can't find any such thing on Google. If you've got the veggie vocabulary to solve this mystery, I'm all ears.
Then there's the mushroom soup, which Pierce just added to the menu as a segue into autumn. Not cream-based but rather starting with a shiitake bouillon, it's light & aromatic enough to appeal even in the still-warm weather, with gorgeous chunks of fungi, lots of fresh dill & a translucent sliver of lardo on top. (Word to the wiser than me: let it melt in; I tried to cut it with a spoon, which doesn't work.)
In case it isn't obvious given the walk-in tour, I was a guest for this feast (which also included the Euclidian Cheesesteak, last week's Dish of the Week). Thus I suggest, as I am wont to do in these cases, including my sneak preview of the place, that you take my praise with a grain of salt—or, better yet, with a dollop of any of the 4 housemade mustards on offer, of which my favorite was the Bordeaux (which uses whole grain & verjus, i.e. grape must).
Whatever it takes to get you in the door. As far as I'm concerned, both it & El Diablo are really living up to the hype as fall's grandest openings.
How much do I appreciate your pointing me to Euclid Hall when I was out there. SO MUCH! Now I wish it weren’t so far away…
Not that this has too much to do with this post (which just makes me want to go there more), but do you know if there is a way to pickle something mildly? I am coming to like pickles more, but I’d like to know if there are gradations of pickling, or different flavors…or something.
Definitely! Ever had half-sours?
while liking euclid hall overall, i was really disappointed with the pig ears. you descibed them accurately–”pure, melting fat, unrecognizable to the squeamish as sense organs”–also unrecognizable to the nonsqueamish as pig ears! where’s the cartilage? i’m used to asian style pig ears that are deliciously chewy, porky, striped niblets. the ones at euclid hall were little better than fatty chunks of batter. they did taste like pork, but were completely textureless. if jen’s embracing the snout to tail movement, why the whitewash?
Honestly, eph8, I think that’s a fair question. It may well be a matter of whitewash (this is, after all, Larimer Square); it may just be a matter of different styles (this isn’t, after all, an Asian restaurant).
Either way, do you have a recommendation for scoring said niblets? They aren’t listed on any English-language Chinese menu around town that I know of, which doesn’t mean they’re not out there, of course….
unfortunately i don’t know of anywhere to get asian style pig ears around here. had some great ones recently at whiskey soda in portland, which was why i was so excited about seeing them for the first time in denver at euclid hall.
i don’t think it’s just an asian thing to leave the cartilage in, but i could be wrong and the style they’re doing is cartilage free. it seemed more like they were afraid people would freak out about the texture, which for me is kind of the point of eating ear. without the chewiness of the cartilage, you might as well be eating any old random piece of pig skin. i’m not saying i hated it, because i love pork and it was tasty. i was just a little disappointed–if you’re going to go for the foodie cool factor of having pig ears on your menu, you should really do it and not try to give it mass appeal.
Point taken. One could make the same argument about Colt & Gray’s trotters. Are Denverites ready for the real deal, warts & all (literally)? I think so. (At least you can get chicken feet at many a dim sum joint.
Wait, FLASHBACK! They’re on the menu at EAST ASIA GARDEN! One of the few things I haven’t tried from the cold dish section. If you go, do report back!
just read your gorging global, en route to ears. thanks for the heads up!