For those of you who've suffered a few of my ranting reviews, you'll know that I am as rabid a fan of every part of the pig as there ever was. I believe that on balance we should be eating less meat, but that when we do, the whole animal should be enjoyed, all the way down to the knobby calcified bits. I deeply appreciate anybody who takes the time and extra effort to respect the pig by pouring all their love, knowledge and skill into bringing out the very very best facets of flavor, aroma, and texture from each morsel of porcine anatomy. I believe such individuals to be on the side of the angels, one of the good guys, menschen, deserving of praise, respect and general adoration. The fine dudes at Iskina fall squarely into this category of human being. There is nothing pretentious, overwrought or melodramatic about Iskina's pig. They understand that they are just facilitating a process rather than creating anything. They let time, the laws of thermodynamics and the product do its thing and in the end, they know that the end product will be nothing less than the sublimation of all the good things that nature has to offer. Their role in the whole thing is to let nature take its course and to bring it to you as quickly and freshly as they possibly can. What is it about roast pork fat, that layer of epiphany hiding just under the crisp veneer of corporeal integrity that so drives me crazy every single time? Maybe it is because the experience defies definition, description, cataloging, or chronicling. I may conceive of words like ethereal, unctuous, decadent, seraphic, and climactic, but in the end they are just words, so much powdery dust in the mouth, when what I experience each time pork fat attains body temperature and melts over the papules of my sensation is nothing short of revelatory. Iskina's belly-chon or belly lechon does not disappoint. The skin is goodness and light itself, a brown crispy rind, barely layered over that pale vein of subcutaneous fat, a gossamer thin covering barely concealing the voluptuous pleasures underneath. This truly took time, skill and the restraint bestowed by expertise, maturity, and doing the same damned thing over and over again. I won't sully this review with mundane details like price point or serving portions. I'll just say that something this good over steamed rice with some chili vinegar and a sprinkling of ajinomoto laced soy would easily make it onto my list of "One Food I Could Eat Everyday for the Rest of My Life", but alas, I'm back on no-carbs for the time being. Till I fall off the no-carb wagon, nirvana will just have to exist in my early morning waking dreams.