Devour 2011: I Need...

...a pickling crock

Whether you're jumping on the fermented-foods bandwagon or just really love sauerkraut, a large-scale pickling operation calls for a large-scale fermenter. While you could make do with a food-grade plastic bucket, nothing beats a real ceramic crock with weights and a water seal. Mirador Community Store (miradorcommunitystore.com) sells top-brand Harsch crocks, and the Portland-based, online Raw Diet Health Store (store.therawdiet.com) sells Polish crocks starting at $117.


...a whole goat

Live out your Berber fantasies this summer and spit-roast a whole goat carcass. The most reliable local vendor of imported goat is probably Willamette Valley Meat (232-0933, wvmeat.com), but if you want a Pollan-approved animal, your best bet is to deal with a rancher directly. The closest is Full of Life Farm (fulloflifefarm.com, 925-876-6720), in St. Paul, which processes custom orders through Mount Angel Meat.


...my knives sharpened

When you're sick of slicing bits of yourself off every time a dull knife slips, call up one of Portland's professional sharpeners. Mike "The Knife Guy" Kraft (360-904-5223) serves many Portland restaurants but is so booked he can be hard to reach. Woody Bailey of Zen Blades (816-3913, zenblades.com) is equally admired but also very busy. The city's newest sharpener, who does very nice work, is Harmonie Medlin of Sharpening4u (3429 NE Sandy Blvd., 962-0574, sharpening4u.com).


...curing salt

Having a sausage party? While most butchers will sell you sausage casings, curing salts containing nitrates or nitrites, which are necessary to avoid botulism contamination in home-cured meats, can be hard to come by. The Meadow (atthemeadow.com) will get you started with a 2-ounce jar of curing salt for $6.50 (you won't need much at first). The pros go to Market Supply (139 SE Taylor St., 239-4990, marketsupply.com), which carries several sorts of cure, spices, casings and stuffing tubes. It's open 8 am-4:30 pm Monday-Friday, so plan ahead.


...a lot of wild caught salmon

Iliamna Fish Company (redsalmon.com), a family fishing operation in Bristol Bay (a Marine Stewardship Council-certified fishery), operates a frozen-salmon subscription service in Portland and Brooklyn, N.Y. You pay $218 by June 1 and get 22 pounds of flash-frozen salmon fillets in August or September.

WWeek 2015

Willamette Week’s reporting has concrete impacts that change laws, force action from civic leaders, and drive compromised politicians from public office. Support WW's journalism today.