The title says it all, really. Recently I bought Michael Ruhlman’s book, Charcuterie. It’s bloody brilliant. I made my own bacon a while back, and bugger me if it wasn’t the best bacon I’ve ever tasted. This week I made duck prosciutto, and if anything it’s even easier than the bacon. Simply get two duck breasts; cover them with salt and stick them in the fridge for a day. Then dust them with white pepper, wrap them in cheesecloth and hang them in a cool place to dry for a week. They taste amazing. It’s taking all of my willpower not to run down to the fridge and eat them all right now. And the best part of it is that it took no talent on my part whatsoever. The only challenge is finding a sufficiently cool, humid place for drying. In my case, the attic sufficed.
So, anyone else here dabbling in charcuterie? If so, what’ve you made? If not, I really recommend it. I’m utterly inept, and have had no problems thus far.
I’ve got that book, too. So far, I’ve made bacon, guanciale, and pancetta. All turned out very well, and I was particularly happy with the guanciale, since I’m a huge fan of bucatini all’amatriciana.
Ha - quite, my duck prosciutto is consoling me for my cold, too. It’s possible it tastes terrible to someone without a cold, but as far as I’m concerned, it is the balls.
When my wife and I first moved here to Charlotte, 5 years ago, we ate at a nice, Southern American cuisine restaurant, and as part of an appetizer assortment had bite-size duck ham sandwiches. They were so good. We’ve been back to the restaurant a few times but they never had them on the menu again. We asked and were told they were seasonal. I may need to attempt to make some myself.
Mmmmm… duck prosciutto. I’d probably give it a whirl, except I don’t think there’s anyplace in the house that’s cool and dark and humid enough to cure it. Which is too bad, because I’ve yet to meet a charcuterie product or a duck product I don’t like.
Speak of which… I had an awesome appetizer at WD-50 in NYC that consisted of duck pastrami on rye toasts. Dear Og was that ever good.
You guys are awesome. Homemade charcuterie is fun and easy. And oh so good. I was glad when I learned how to make some of these things to replace my expensive habit of going to my deli for shaved serrano ham…at $20/lb…not that I can make anything as good as true serrano (has anyone tried this stuff? It’s amazingly good, with a pronounced nutty flavor, from the pigs having a diet of acorns, I hear), but it suffices.
I think you have stumbled across what will be an excellent birthday present for Boy from Mars. To supplement it, I was thinking about finding some classes he could attend, but perhaps the book would make that unnecessary? Are there any special tools or equipment required for some of the recipes which I could include together to boost the gift?
I live in Australia so that link won’t be the most convenient for me. Is this the same thing? He’s likely to be interested in making Italian charcutierie, like panchetta, proscuitto and some salamis.
You might want to get both the #1 and #2 curing salts. The first is used for shorter cures (up to a month or two), the latter is used for anything more than three months. The only problem I have with the curing salts on the site you linked to is that, at least for the #1 cure which has an ingredients list, they seem to contain flavoring ingredients like sugar and maple syrup. You really don’t want that if you’re getting this book and following the recipes.
OK- I want to try this, but can’t pony up the money for the book at this moment. Dead Badger, can you give a bit more guidance on a couple of the steps?
Are these RAW duck breasts? Or already cooked?
Any special type of salt? Or just normal kosher salt?
These need to be hung in a humid (not dry?) environment? How humid?
Does the book suggest any areas to do the curing? Wine cellar or wine fridge maybe? This time of year my basement entryway might work, but I’d have to build a little mosquito net box to put the meat in to keep any insects off…
Netting is an idea… when it gets cooler I was thinking maybe my attic, but the attic is open via lattice to the outside, and the outside has, you know, outside things.
I wouldn’t think a wine fridge would be humid enough. (I suppose I could find out with mine, but I don’t know where I put my hydrowhatshisface.) If you have a wine cellar, you probably have your own charcuterier, right? And servants to do the hanging and such for you?
I have tried to ask the house servants where they bring the wine from (as I can only imagine that my estate must have a wine cellar somewhere), but have gotten litttle infomation from them as they mostly cower in fear as I try to aproach them.
Unfortunately, the recent recession has required me to let my long time butler (and translation go-between with the rest of the staff), Gordon, go and replace him with a cheaper, immigrant fellow from Wvatislovia named “Sveggen”. Sveggen speaks no english, but there is typically no need for talk as he dresses me, drives me around and attends to my needs (pointing at objects I desire and making menacing gestures with my riding crop are typically all that is needed to get the point across). So until I can resolve this communication impasse, I shall endeavor to wander the grounds in search of suitable place to hang my meat. Perhaps I shall explore the northwest wing tomorrow.
Which is too bad, because I’ve yet to meet a charcuterie product or a duck product I don’t like.