This is the sixth and final in a series of posts about a few days visiting different farmers and producers in Iowa, including several from whom we’ve bought pork. This one’s quick and simple.

See the previous posts here, here, here, here and here.

The last producer I visited on this trip was La Quercia in Norwalk, Iowa. I stopped by late in the day and Herb Eckhouse, the co-founder, graciously showed me around and shared how his business worked.

Herb lived in Italy for a while and there studied the making of prosciutto. All the specialized equipment comes from Italy. The pigs come from Midwestern farms. Like us, La Quercia works to find suppliers that raise heritage breed pigs outdoors. They’re a little farther along than us in obtaining a regular supply of this kind of meat. In fact, when I was there it seemed that they had just made arrangements with a farm that would meet all their pork needs, about which Herb was happy.

We bought some of their “La Quercia Rossa–Heirloom Breed Culaccia”, which is made from Eden Natural 100% Berkshire pork. The richness and flavor of this ham is amazing, and we’re happy to be sharing it. We’re serving it with Maytag blue cheese and local figs as they arrive from the neighbors. Until fig season ends.

Herb Eckhouse of La Querica

Here’s an article featuring La Quercia from the Des Moines Register, courtesy the Ethicurean.