Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/7240
44 / the tasting panel / march 2010 D avid Cane can cook. I have tasted his dishes, and his elegantly pre- pared duck confit is the best I have experienced (I continue to order the dish at restaurants, only to be disappointed by less worthy versions). Cane has mastered the art of curing meats and is quickly gaining fame for his slow-cooked, hand-rubbed New York–style pastrami. Cane's East Coast roots gave him cause— and an appetite—to search for a better pastrami sandwich than he was able to find in California. Eventually, he decided to cre- ate his own: David's Old World Pastrami, a pungent and aromatic multi-ingredient USDA top choice smoked meat that got its start at El Rancho Marketplace in Santa Ynez, in Santa Barbara wine country. Pastrami starts as brisket of beef, which is then cured, smoked and steamed, but David's version receives his special touch. "No one knows the secret recipe," insists Cane, who hints at spices such as garlic, pepper, coriander and mustard seed. The line has now expanded to include David's apple wood smoked dry-cured hams and bacon. Cane's varied wine and spirits industry career began in the early 1970s in the San hired as the neW Wine, spirits and specialty food director at el rancho MarKetplace in california's central coast Wine country, DAviD MicHAel cANe is also a producer of artisan Meats doWn tHe AiSle David Cane shows off his David's Old World Brand Pastrami to Neil Conway, Division Manager/Central Coast Off-Premise for SW&S, and David Tethal, Area Manager, CA & HI for Foster's Wine Estates. cure-all he has the by Meridith May