Bone Marrow Pizza Is In

Published on Tuesday, May 25, 2010, by Lessley Anderson / Edit Post

I guess it was inevitable: After lardo pizza became ubiquitous, thanks to its inclusion on almost every Mario Batali menu, bone marrow pizza would follow. So far, bone marrow (extracted from the bones, duh) has been spotted as a pizza topping at Boston's Coppa Enoteca and San Francisco's Flour + Water. Both are paired with freshly grated horseradish. So what does it taste like? I've tried the Flour + Water one, and it was tasty, although truth be told, you can't tell you're eating bone marrow per se, because it melts down into a pool of really rich grease that mixes with the cheese.

A few words on lardo and bone marrow (you can skip this if you're one of those sophisticated food person types): Lardo is an old Roman specialty that shows up on charcuterie plates a lot these days. It's literally just pig fat that's been cured with spices (like rosemary), and it comes sliced but has a buttery consistency you'd expect from pure fat. Bone marrow is also quite fatty but is not fat, technically, but blood-cell-producing tissue. It was popularized as a bistro-y thing you'd dig out with a knife and spread on toast when it appeared on the menu at Blue Ribbon Brasserie in SoHo in the mid-1990s. It's rich, creamy, and primal. If you're out drinking, it can be a more sophisticated answer to late-night french fries.

Image source: Flickr member Neeta Lind under Creative Commons

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  • This is not that common in Scotland but my granny would use the bonemarrow to bind her oatcakes it is very tasty just spooned out and eaten on toast

  • Bone marrow is hardly new, and bisrto-y places in SoHo are only catching up. Even I used to love to dig it out of soup bones as a kid. In Italy, bone marrow spoons have been available as part of high end silverware sets, e.g. Buccellati, for decades, maybe centuries.

  • I would think that if anyone should get the credit for the popularity of bone marrow it would be Fergus Henderson of St. John Bread and Wine, London. Not sure about the timeline, but it's his marrow with grilled bread and parsley salad that we see Bourdain raving about.

  • Reminds me of a Philippine dish called Bulalo. Bone Marrow in soup really tasty.

  • My father taught me to scoop the marrow out of bones when I was a child and it has been a delicacy for me ever since. I am a great fan of osso bucco and even cook it when veal shank is available and I have the money for it. Not an economical dish but a heavenly one. Some Italian restaurants have special little spoons for scooping out the marrow without dirtying your hands.

  • Ever have Osso Bucco? It's veal shank Italian-style--and one of the highlights is the marrow in the bone. I'm not partial to the stuff (too fatty & gooey for me) but my wife and daughter go nuts for the stuff.

  • Woah, Lessley, how do you find this stuff?
    Is Bone Marrow healthy?

  • in russia, lardo is called sala.

    people prepared it home and eat it like butter on toast.

    here in Manchuria, we have bone marrow restaurants where diners are given plastic gloves and a straw to get in dere.