What kind of mushrooms would you use in a recipe from Abruzzo/Molise? - moved from Manhattan board

[hchudgin]

I've been cooking my way through Ada Boni's regionali Italian book, and right now I'm in the chapter on Abruzzo and Molise. I just had a couple questions, as sometimes Ms. Boni can be a bit vague.

What kind of mushrooms should I get if she hasn't specified?

What is unsmoked ham fat? Do I just buy a fatty cut of pork and cut off the fat?

Where can I get a boned turkey, as I'd do an awful job myself? I was thinking Pino's. Same question for rabbit. These are outside the Fresh Direct world, of course.

What are chocolate strands?

What kind of lamb chops would she be talking about? Shoulder? The little rib ones? Loin?

Thanks!

[The Chowhound Team]

This topic has a twin, here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6883... We'll be locking this one, so please add repllies there. Thanks so much.

[Ernie Diamond]

Second on the porcini.

Not being familiar with the book, I would imagine that unsmoked ham fat is lardo, the salt-cured back fat of a pig. In lieu of sourcing some on your own, I suggest you use salt pork or (ideally) fatback well-rinsed.

Lardo should not be hard to find in NYC, though. It's become quite the trendy ingredient.

[smokeandapancake]

I would stick with porcini.

[smokeandapancake]

Chocolate strands (pic) and I would go with porcini.

[toveggiegirl]

They are also called chocolate vermicelli.