It’s almost two years that Kalman cold storage – the cult sausage shop in Kolkata, has closed down. A small, hole in the wall outlet, it has always been a pilgrimage for the oink oink lovers of the city. I have never been a great fan of sausages. Although, I don’t mind it either, for breakfast or a curry. A nice pork sausage curry with no name by Madhushree, on the same lines of a Goan Pork Sausage curry, makes me lick my plate clean every time. 

My experience with pork in Italy

When it comes to pork, I love the meat though not mandatory in my meals and can live without it for weeks at a stretch. My palate opened up for Pigs when I was in Italy. During my homestay in Osasco, one and half hours from Turin, Franca, my gracious hostess left no stone unturned in charming the Kolkata man with Italian food and wine. While Franco, her husband, was gracious enough to treat me with some of the best wines of South Italy. One such night, Franca made homemade pasta, which she learnt to roll from her mother. She made a pasta sauce which had Calibri pork sausage and the same sausage was used to make some delicious involtini, which in Italian means small bites of food rolled in meat or vegetables. In this case, it was parmigiano reggiano cheese and parsley.

We spent an evening in their cosy dining space over homemade limoncillo by Franca’s father. An evening, which could never be recreated in Kolkata, though Franca didn’t forget to pack some generous quantity of Calibrian Sausage for home. My next stop was Tuscany. Who can forget the Cinta Senese cheek meat which I had at Le Verrona. 

Meathead Pork Belly Sandwich with Apple Slaw - 2

MeatHead was never there in his head

Like many lockdown start-ups, Sambaran Mitra started Meathead during lockdown. The story is interesting for a Bengali bhadralok. He sailed as a Merchant Navy Officer for 14 years. In UK, he self-trained in various aspects of cooking and kitchen by taking up part time jobs. When he quit sailing, he was working as an FnB consultant in various places. During lockdown, he trialled some meat with a smoker, which was lying with him from his previous projects. Social media did its magic and soon, requests started pouring in.

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Meathead Pork Belly Sandwich with Apple Slaw - 3

Sourcing for MeatHead

Sambaran sources his meats from local organic farms in Delhi. Often, there is a debate which one is a better method of smoking – Hickory or Mesquite? Meathead is all about wood smoked meat. They use an offset reverse flow stick burner and Sambaran confirms that it’s labour intensive and each meat from Meathead is smoked between 6 – 16 hours.

The Pork belly sandwich with apple slaw

Sambaran had instructed us specifically – to not open the packet. Rather, warm it in simmering water and then its ready to eat. We had made a crispy crackling Pork Belly while we had started the blog. We had a packet of belly and loin. Both the meats were well seasoned, perfectly tender meat and beautiful balance of flavours. We sliced the belly and used some apple slaw to make beautiful sandwiches. Part of the loin was used in the sandwich and the otehr half, we couldn’t resist but finish eating as it was within no time. 

Here is a quick way to make the sandwich 

The price point may be on the higher side, but sometimes, quality tops price. It may need some time to grow its base in Kolkata owing to the price sensitivity of this city. However the taste remains unparallel to any other. At this point of time, they sell 4 kinds of meats- pork belly, loin, pork ribs and beef brisket.

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All the best Sambaran. To more smoking ( the meat obviously) and creating these happiness moments for us. You can place order with him at 8588074556 

You can reach out to us at our social media handles: InstagramFacebook or any of our personal Facebook (Madhushree and Anindya) and twitter profiles. Post a picture and tag us.

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Pork belly Sandwich - Pinterest

Meathead Pork Belly Apple Slaw Sandwich

Sliced roasted pork belly with creamy and crunchy apple slaw
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Course Appetizers, Breakfast, Main Course, Non Vegetarian
Cuisine Global
Servings 4 sandwiches

Ingredients
  

  • 250 gms Meathead pork belly or any other roasted pork belly
  • 1 apple
  • 1/2 cup shredded cabbage
  • 1 sliced red onion
  • 1 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp thick yogurt
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • salt and pepper
  • butter for the breads
  • 4 sandwich buns

Instructions
 

  • Take the meathead packet of pork belly and leave it in simmering hot water for 10 minutes.
  • Prepare the dressing with yogurt, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper.
  • Slice the apples in julienne. Mix the cabbage, onions and apples together.
  • Add the dressing and toss together. Adjust the salt and sugar as per taste.
  • Take the meathead out after 10 minutes. Open the packet and let it cool down a bit.
  • Slice the pork belly or shred it if you like.
  • Take the sandwich buns and halve them. Slather butter on both sides. Place the pork belly slices on on half of rach sandwich. Top with the apple slaw and place the other end of the bread to make a sandwich.
  • Serve the sandwiches with more slaw on the side.
Keyword apple salad, apple slaw, meathead, pork belly sandwich, porkbelly, sandwich