Photo by JD Sullivan!
Many have asked when our book, Salumi, a follow up or really continuation of our Charcuterie, will be out. I finished the rewrite earlier this summer, and Brian, chef-owner of Forest Grill, my co-author whom I first wrote about in Soul of a Chef, finished up recipe testing, so the book is now slated for a summer 2012 publication.
The book is devoted solely to the Italian craft of dry-curing meat. Salumi is the general term for these meats. Above were some trials I dried in the wine cellar of my dear friend, JD SULLIVAN!!! It proved to be ideal, and a nice patina of beneficial mold grew naturally on the salame above. In the foreground is guanciale, dry-cured jowl. I’m slicing some coppa; also on the board, tied, is lonza (dry-cured loin) and a small ham. (Our salumi-loving offspring are in the background.) The ham I stuffed in a bladder is curing nicely in a mini-fridge in my basement.
Stay tuned and happy curing!
Previous related posts:
Salumi In Northern Italy Part-2
Related links of interest:
- My post on the Saving Graces of Pigs and Charcuterie
- Charcutepalooza lets make meat.
- Salumeria Biellese in NYC partners with me for some Opensky specials, awesome salumi, highly recommend.
- Celebrate the whole pig in Traverse City, Michigan at the annual Pigstock TC 10/17-10/19.
© 2011 Michael Ruhlman. Photo © 2011 Donna Turner-Ruhlman. All rights reserved
I cannot wait for this book, Michael. Salumepalooza?
is that justin bieber!?!?!
don’t tell james, he gets that all the time, much to his annoyance!
Well, tell him to get a hair cut, the hippy
Ha! I was just going to write the same thing!
Id love to see your curing station set up. Im wanting one of my own.
using a jury rigged mini fridge
Wow! James is really growing up and seems intent on following in his father’s footsteps!
The salumi looks great! Any advice on starting a restaurant charcuterie program. I would appreciate any pointers and/or info.
will be writing about this, it’s tricky on the curing and local health dept
Thanks to you and yours I have 10# of bacon in the freezer and 10# of pancetta curing as we speak. I will be on that book like mold (good of course) on a salami…
I recently set up a mini fridge into a chamber … having condensation issues. Would love to hear how you set yours up.
i put a piece of foil beneath and angle it so that the condensation drips into the pan of salt water.
I was just wondering whether I could use our wine cellar for curing sausages…
We cured the above in my cellar. It’s about 60 degrees and about 60% humidity. Seemed to work. J.D.
Hey Michael, Any chance theres a prosciutto recipe in the new book?
Nick, check out the link below to Wrightfood for information on how to deal with condensation and other curing issues. It’s a great site;
http://mattikaarts.com/blog/
agree great site!
Good things come to us that wait
Thank you for the mention, we also have a facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/groups/147747195247185) and look forward to a bigger and better event this year. Please let us know if you would like to attend, it’s a great time of year to visit.
That is one massive jowl, makes my guanciale look like it came from a suckling piglet.
Looking forward to it, Michael. The salumi on the cutting board looks great. We’d love to review the book when it comes out. Good luck finishing it.
Just a note, your coppa should be fully on the cutting board while slicing to avoid accidents, especially with children looking on.
We’ve recently been working through the fresh sausage chapter from Charcuterie. We think we have it down now where our sausage is coming out moist. But most recent time, the backfat we used (which we purchased vacuum-sealed & frozen from a local butcher) had an odd smell, even after rinsing. We used it anyways and the sausage came out tasting just awful. Perfectly moist, but off-tasting. Can’t figure it.
Thanks for the bold credit, Mike. Usually, I just get a byline like “some jackass friend of mine…”
Would it be possible to include other Country’s meat curing methods, i.e. Germany, Spain, France as they all have their ways of this particular art of meat perservation methods
Wow. I really need to start making this stuff. The color on the coppa you’re slicing looks out of this world.
What is the temperature and humidity level in the minifridge?