The Illium Cafe

We're on the verge of a heart attack as we write this post but every bite of The Illium Cafe's Cajun Pork Belly & Crispy Prosciutto Panini was worth it. We've always been fans of The Illium and it's been our go to brunch spot after a visit to the Farmer's Market in Troy. Our favorite sandwich is the Surf and Turf Sandwich. It's a flavorful combo of grilled shrimp and marinated steak with blue cheese, roasted red peppers, and arugula on foccacia. But when we read about the pork belly panini on All Over Albany's Eat This! we knew it was one of those crazy concoctions that we had to try. 

Truth be told, this is the second time we've tried this sandwich within a three week span. We're gluttons but to be fair, J ordered his own last time while I got the Surf and Turf.  I devoured my own order this time around. I figured the pork would balance all the turkey from the Holidays plus I hadn't had any breakfast yet and we had a very late lunch. All justified.  

Be prepared to be unproductive for the rest of the day. The Cajun Pork Belly and Crispy Prosciutto Panini is an open faced sandwich made with a savory bread pudding with brie cheese, pork belly, and topped with a hefty mound of crispy prosciutto, fried egg, and hollandaise sauce. There is no shortage of pork here and it's all kind of magical. These are all rich and fatty elements but somehow it all works together. 

The bread pudding has all the familiar flavors of a classic Thanksgiving stuffing and is the perfect vehicle to mop the runny egg yolk and creamy taragon hollandaise sauce. Fresh elements of red onions and spinach helps break up the richness of all the other elements. Last time J got arugula instead of spinach, which I thought was the better of the greens. Love that peppery bite. Our version also differed a bit from Masticating Monkey's in that we got fresh spinach instead of sauteed. Plus instead of a brie sauce ours was a slice of grilled cheese with brie beneath the slice of savory bread pudding. I can only imagine that the cheese sauce would add another rich layer of flavor.  A touch of acid or something pickled would have helped cut the greasiness of the dish but when you're ordering a dish like this, you might as well go all in. Why else would there be pork belly AND crispy prosciutto. Over the top? Absolutely but so worth it. 

The pork belly is essentially a thick cut of bacon. My pieces were a bit tough and dry this visit and frankly I didn't really pick up on any Cajun flavor but it's ok. The mountain of crispy prosciutto more than made up for it. Crispy, crunchy, salty, and bacon-y. This sandwich is the ultimate comfort food. If you need to squeeze in some veggies, the dish also comes with slices of pickles and a side of potato salad or coleslaw. 

The Pork Belly Panini is a try at your own risk type of sandwich but since it's the holiday season, why not indulge a bit. You need some pork fat to warm up in this chilly weather anyway and it's fuel for all that Christmas shopping.