Bresaola is a wonderful somewhat citrus cured beef. The beef is fist submerged in red wine and various spices for about 10-15 days then left to air dry for a further month or so. Sliced very thinly, serve with some arugula (rocket) and grated parmesan (don't forget the drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon). See Wiki: Bresaola
Formula:
1kg Beef
1ltr Red wine
3/4 cup Salt
3 Sprigs fresh Rosemary
1 Sprig of Thyme
4 Bay leaves
4 Garlic cloves, crushed
2Tbs Black pepper
2 All Spice
1Tbs Dry chilli flakes
1 Orange - peel
1 Lemon - zest
3 cloves
1/2tsp cumin
Mix all ingredients together and submerge beef in mixture. Cover with some cling wrap and place in fridge for 10-15 days. After which, remove from liquid and pat dry. String up and hang in a cool room for a month or so (or until it has lost 38-40% of its original weight). Slice very thinly and enjoy!
Any aspiring charcutier must attempt a rillette. This is strangely easy to do/make but to get the balance of fat vs. salt vs. flavour right is something else. See Wikipedia definition: Rillette.
Heat oven to 140`c/275`F. In an oven-proof pan, fry onions until translucent and add diced belly and allspice. Add Nutmeg and a splash of wine. Cover and place in the oven for 2 hours. Stir occasionally. After two hours add garlic, squeeze of lemon and sprigs of thyme, salt and pepper. Return to oven for a further 2 hours. Let cool completely and place in blender. Blend until you reach a nice consistency (add a dash more wine or a squeeze of lemon if too thick). Add a handful of chopped parsley and serve with some nice crusty bread. Enjoy!
How can a South African girl enjoy the art of curing meat and not make Biltong? The staple snack in a land of rugby and beer.
Formula:
700-1000g of Beef (lean but preferably with a side of fat) 1-2 Tbs Brown Sugar
2-2.5 Tbs Coriander seeds - roughly crushed
1 tsp White Pepper
1 tsp Black Pepper - ground
1/2 Tbs Salt
1/2 tsp Chilli Powder (optional)
White vinegar
Wet the meat with a drizzle of vinegar. Mix spices and sugar and rub onto the meat. Place meat in the fridge for 1 day. Remove from fridge and wash briefly under cool water (depending on how spicy you want it) and pat dry with kitchen towel. Hang meat in a slightly draughty area for 4-8 days at a cool temperature. Eat with a bottle of good beer in the one hand and some Rugga on the telly.
Yes this is a fresh sausage, but because it is my favorite, I thought i'd share. Strong, spicy, with a distinct fennel taste.
Formula:
800g Lean Pork (or 600g Pork & 200g Beef)
200g Hard fat
1/2 Tbs Italian Herbs,
1/2 Tbs Dry Chilli Flakes
1 1/4 Tbs Fennel Seeds - lightly crushed or whole
1 Tbs Salt
1 Tbs Black Pepper - Crushed
1 tsp Cayenne Pepper
3-5 Garlic cloves - Crushed
1/2 cup Red Wine
Soak wine and crushed garlic. Grind meat to required thickness (quite chunky if you like it rustic, but not too fine either) 10mm plate then 5mm plate if possible. Mix all ingredients then stuff into natural casings. These sausages must be eaten fresh or frozen. Why not enjoy a bowl of Penne Arrabiata with Italian Sausage?!
With all this meat curing, I thought I better get a slicer. In my research of latest and greatest I came across an old vintage classic that I fell in love with. The Hobart 410 is pure functional art. With its beautiful lines and sleek finish, this is one sexy object.
"The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City has included the Hobart 410 "Streamliner" meat slicer as part of an exhibition on the American Century in art and culture. The Hobart 410 slicer, designed by Egmond Arens and Theodore Brookhardt, is part of a display on the trend toward streamlined products in the 1930s and early `40s. The Hobart 410's shiny, curvy shape provided a metaphor for speed, control and progress. Troy-based Hobart producted the 410 beginning in 1944 and 94,848 units were manufactured."
"Called the “streamliner” by those who have fallen in love with its look, the Hobart 410 slicer was donated recently to the Cooper-Hewitt’s Industrial Design collection in the museum’s Product Design and Decorative Arts Department."
"Why would a renowned design museum add such a common commercial kitchen object to its collection? This model is a classic example of the successful marriage of function and style, explains Cynthia Trope, an assistant curator at the Cooper-Hewitt. The Hobart 410’s curvaceous, tear-drop shape and smooth surfaces reflect the Modernist streamline style of the 1930s and 1940s, a style that originated in aerodynamics and efforts to reduce wind resistance on airplanes, trains and other moving vehicles. Even sitting quietly on a deli counter, the Hobart 410’s graceful, rhythmic form suggests movement and speed. Yet its simple beauty also makes the 410 easy to clean, Trope says. Its smooth aluminum surface and compact design are durable and easy to wipe down—a huge benefit for restaurant and deli workers."
So, yesterday I decided to make some salami. Now last month I did this for the first time and I feel it was a failure. The reasons being; 1. I used a salami spice mix from one of the local meat suppliers (this includes the cure/pink salt and a mix of ground spices of unknown ratios) 2. I added a healthy glug of red wine. The wine issue can be viewed either way, either to cook the wine down before use (so as not to have such a strong wine taste) or to add it sparingly. 3. I left it too long. I am using small casing in my salami experiments as they mature much quicker and it gives me the opportunity to try various formulas and get it 'right' before doing a 'real' larger salami. In any case, I did not fancy them at all, the flavour was way too winey and they were too hard. The spices were all out of balance for my palate.
Moving swiftly on. I bought 3kg of good meat and some fat, and decided to really experiment. I made three salamis;
Spice pack Salami (leaving out the wine)
Italian Style Salami (own choice of spices, similar to Italian sausage - dominantly fennel)
1kg Pork (lean meat - all sinew/fat removed)
42.3g Salami Spice Mix
2.81g Cure
x4 Garlic, crushed
+/-300g Fat - hard (Fat back or belly fat)
Always keep meat cold, pop in the fridge when busy with something else. Freeze fat so it doesn't smear. Grind meat to desired thickness, mix in spices (don’t mix with hands as the fat will melt). Stuff and poke. Hang @ 18-22`c for 2 days then @ 14-18`c for 1 week (because of the small casings).
Salami 2:
Formula: 800g Pork (lean meat - all sinew/fat removed)
+/-300g Hard Fat
Dash of Red Wine
x3 Garlic, crushed
Cure
1tsp Black Pepper - ground
1Tbs Salt
1/2 Tbs Fennel, ground
Follow same process as Salami 1
Salami 3:
Formula:
800g Pork (lean meat - all sinew/fat removed)
+/-300g Hard Fat
1/2 cup White dry Chardonnay
x3 Garlic, crushed
Cure
1tsp Black Pepper, ground
1Tbs Salt
x2 med-large 'petals/pieces' Dried Porcini, ground into powder
1tsp Sage, dried
Follow same process as Salami 1
This is my incubation box - an old wooden toy box that I leave on the heated tiled floor - this maintains a perfect temperature of 18-23`c
After a few days in the curing room (aka store room, which maintains a nice cool temp. and humidity is high) Left: Italian Fennel, Middle: Spice mix, Right: Porcini/Sage, Far Right: Coppa. Notice the bloom starting.
Eazy peezy. Anyone can make coppa at home; all you need is 3 main elements. Firstly get hold of a nice pork neck (if you need help extracting the neck, refer to Jason's excellent blog). Secondly spices and lastly, time.
Formula:
800g Coppa
30g Salt
15g White Pepper
5g Cloves
0.5g Cinnomon
1/2 tsp Dry Chilli Flakes - optional
1-2 Garlic Cloves - chopped finely (or garlic powder)
Red wine for after
Mix/grind all spices together and rub all over the coppa. Place in a zip-lock bag and leave in the fridge for 10-15 days (massaging the meat every few days). After the required time, remove from fridge and rinse briefly under cold running water and then either leave submerged in some red wine or rinse in red wine. This depends on personal taste. Dry with paper towel and wrap in brown packaging paper. This is debateable, but as far as I know is just a practice in keeping flies and other such things off the meat. I wrapped and tied mine and hung them at room temp. (19-22`c - fortunately the weather is still nice and cool here).
After two days, remove wrapping (see picture below) and hang at 12-15'c for anywhere between 3 to 6 months. This can be hung in a temperature controlled fridge, as I did. The rule of thumb is to wait until it has lost +/-35% of its weight! I still have some weeks to go, and will let you know how it is, along with some pics.
These two coppa have just come out of the paper wrap after two days at room temp. and are now ready to hung in the curing room until they have lost 36% of their original weight.
I choose to start with a simple Pancetta because it's one of the easiest forms of Charcuterie - in the same category as Coppa and the South African favourite, Biltong(similar to beef jerky) - Easy because no nitrates/nitrites are needed, alas, this is the subject of some debate, one which often gets heated in the blogosphere.
Anyway, this is what I did, after much internet research and formula decisions - I opted to blend a few formulas in better ratios to my taste - I came up with this:
Formula:
+/- 1kg Belly (I used 0.87kg)
x2 Tbs whole pepper corns (keep 1Tbs for later)
x2 Tbs Juniper Berries - this i could not get, so I used x2 Allspice, ground
1/3 Cup Salt
x3 Tbs Brown Sugar
x2 Tbs Curing Salt (Optional - I did not use any)
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
x5 Garlic, Minced
x5 Bay leaves, dry
x2 tsp Tyme
x2 Tbs Rosmary - optional
1/3 tsp Dry Chilli Flakes - very optional!
Grind all the spices together (except the 1 Tbs black pepper), rub all over the belly, all sides, making sure to get it all rubbed in well. Place in a zip-lock plastic bag and keep in the fridge for 7-10 days (up to 15 if it's a big boy).
After the required amount of time, take out and wash briefly under running water - just enough to rinse off the spice slightly. Pat dry with paper towel and prepare to roll as tightly as possible, I find this helps with an extra pair of hands. Tie the belly up into a roll and hang in the fridge or a cool dry place (21`c or lower). Leave to hang for a minimum of 2 weeks depending on the environment.
This has been hanging in my fridge now (next to coppas, which will be in the next post) for some 3 weeks now; I think it needs a couple more days. I am very eager to taste this beauty. I will post some pics when I have sliced and tasted it. Just know that I am a total neophyte and am finding my way slowly. If you have any comments or suggestions to where I am going wrong, please fire away.
Bresaola on the left, coppa in the centre and pancetta on the right
