(This venue is closed.) This German-rooted provisioner's housemade ham lard — with onions, apples, herbs, and tiny cubes of schinken, or smoked pork loin — is absolutely decadent atop a crust of bread.
It comes recommended for frying potatoes, too, but I can't see how any would ever make it to my pan. To the right of the ham lard is its mild-mannered cousin Thuringia mett, salted and spiced pork tartare with a little chopped onion.
Schinken cubes also find their way into the German potato salad (not shown), seasoned with vinegar, onions, and spices. Its thin slices — some white, some yellowish, perhaps cut from two different types of potato — can be big around as a baseball, with a firm texture verging on crunchy. Offering a respite from pork, the "North Sea herring cocktail" is colored by red beets and rich with mayonnaise.
From the vast ranks of hams, sausages, and salamis (not all of them captured in the photo below), I've plucked the Hungarian-style debrecziner, a thin, supple, gently smoked sausage. Step aside, Slim Jim.
Koglin Royal Hams
Grand Central Market
Upper level, Grand Central Station
212-499-0725
www.KoglinRoyalHams.com
