from 3906: the gift that keeps on giving

Friday, March 22, 2024

the gift that keeps on giving

Continuing with our Christmas gifts of enjoying unexpected experiences throughout the year, I arranged one for W at our place, Jimmy's Food Store. It is a 50 year-old iconic grocery in East Dallas, with all things Italian offered: wine, deli, dry products, fresh products, holiday imports.

This visit was to watch Jeff, assumingly the head of the deli department, demonstrate how to open a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano. I had asked the favor and he immediately and most graciously committed.

To our shared joy of and appreciation for the simple things in life, W and I arrived early to sip a plastic cup of wine and let the anticipation build. We chatted with some of the staff and filled out papers for the gigantic chocolate Easter egg drawing. We enter every year with plans if we win to set the three foot tall egg on a table and invite neighbors and friends over to indulge.

There are always many Easter items on display and as sure as at Christmas, I choose a beautiful Panettone each time. Here she is.

While we sipped our second glass of the two-glass wine limit - the only thing in the whole Jimmy's experience that seems very UN-Italian - dinner plans changed when I spotted the xxxlarge ripe avocados. I knew I had a bitter enough green lettuce, hearts of palm, a lemon, and pignoli at the Bistro, so I added a handful of cherry tomatoes, excited to plan a Garga Salad. It was made famous by a Florence restaurant of the same name, which sadly I've only peeked in the window on one trip when it was closed. (Recipe can be found online.)

Jeff's arrival was perfectly timed. Not being allowed into the kitchen of course, we had thought to bring our step stool and Jeff moved boxes out of the way so I could step up to get a view of the cheese table where the magic was to happen.

Magical it was! He chose to do this wheel by hand, I think just for us because there is a saw method which produces less crumble (thus more sellable product) but can't possibly be as moving as watching the man and his various knives break into this revered cheese. A testament not to size - but how popular Jimmy's Food Store is in Dallas - Jeff opens about three wheels of Reggiano per week.

He began by scoring and cutting the perimeter, more than once. Then he cut again with a bigger and longer knife whose length could reach farther into the mid section. When the wheel split, there was applause all around. It happened much faster than I expected, and then there he was handing out soft, delicious samples to us and the people who had curiously gathered or were waiting in line for various orders.