Caseiro e Bom gourmet house
Grocery store · Newark ·
Specialty shop with prized Iberian ham, local charcuterie
Specialty shop with prized Iberian ham, local charcuterie
"If you worship all things porcine, then Caseiro e Bom is a must-stop. What looks like an unassuming but well-stocked bodega when you walk in is actually the butcher shop of Rodrigo Duarte. For years, Duarte worked to bring Pata Negra pigs to New Jersey from Portugal to raise them and make a true-to-tradition local version of Iberico ham, a style renowned for its distinct flavor derived from the pig’s specific diet, breeding, and curing. This is a great stop for beautiful, locally raised, fresh and cured meats." - Hank Zona
"In Newark’s Ironbound, I visited Caseiro e Bom Gourmet House (70 Pacific Street, at Nichols Street), a butcher and specialty market that Don Rodrigo Duarte opened in 2006 to bring the pork dishes of his homeland to the neighborhood. The shop smells of ham throughout and displays dozens of Alentejano legs dangling from hooks, with another batch of nearly a hundred presunto (16–18 pounds) aging in controlled conditions; Duarte points to a particular leg that has been aging since 2021. He uses traditional Portuguese curing techniques—salting, resting, and using wine and natural farm ingredients—then hangs meats to age for years, producing sought-after items like Iberico presa or secretos, sarrabulho (blood-based dish), leitão da bairrada (roast suckling pig), Portuguese chorizo and blood sausage, and other lamb, goat, and rabbit offerings. The shop emphasizes antibiotic-free, corn-free, pasture-raised practices, and Duarte tries to keep prices fair for the immigrant community despite brutal inflation; his top-tier Alentejano ham is the result of a long process (five years to perfect the renowned flavor) and can sell for as much as $499 per pound. Weekly foot traffic includes longtime Portuguese patrons who appreciate the nostalgia and camaraderie of the store, and Duarte’s pink throne—gifted after he was dubbed the “King of Hams”—hangs beneath one of his first cured Alentejano hams as a reminder of a decade of work and negotiations to bring these pigs to America." - Nicholas Hernandez
"Beginning as a bodega bought in 2010, Caseiro e Bom (which means “homemade and good”) has been transformed by owner Rodrigo Duarte into a palace of meat—complete with a throne in the back and Duarte referred to as the “King of Hams”—where he sells ham from locally approved Iberico Alentejano pigs, jars of white pork fat, ribs and bacon; some specialty hams fetch hundreds of dollars, and the market also offers fresh meat and produce, imported cheeses, and a line of fresh and dried sausages." - Valerie Stivers
"A Portuguese specialty food store that sells a lot of fresh meat—including pata negra ham, chorizo, and shellfish—Caseiro E Bom in Newark typically draws customers who prefer to shop in person for selections, but strict safety measures (temperature checks and providing gloves) have reduced the number of transactions because only a limited number of people can be allowed in the store at a time." - Charu Suri
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