Bresaola

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!

Biltong (South African beef jerky)

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.

Coppa

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.

Pancetta No1 - To start somewhere

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