Ham, dry-cured for eight months, removed from bladder (this photo by iPhone, the ones below are by Donna)
In honor of this month's #charcutepalooza challenge over at Mrs. Wheelbarrow, I'm reposting this soppressata recipe from a couple years back. Wishing all who take up the challenge well. Happy curing!
While David Lebovitz considers molecular gastronomy and The Alinea Cookbook in a long and thoughtful post today (he approaches with great skepticism, as he's a traditionalist at heart, and leaves with appreciation having come back round to where he'd begun but by a whole new route), I would like to consider some of the oldest molecular gastronomical magic known to man. Combining ground pork and salt and seasonings, introducing to it some microscopic creatures, and waiting for it to dry a little, to achieve a tangy flavorful sausage that has never gone above room temperature.
In December, a few of us went in on a pig. One of the pleasures of hand-raised hog is ...
Photo by JD Sullivan!
Trader Joe's "uncured" bacon/Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman
Ham in pig's bladder/Photo by Donna Turner Ruhlman
Photo by Donna
Ten days in Italy with Brian Polcyn and Nic Heckett for a salume tour of northern and central Italy—primarily Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria and Emilia-Romagna. Damn, Italy is beautiful. There’s a reason Tuscany in particular is so romanticized. Its rolling, forested hills and little towns perched on hillsides are breathtaking, particularly, I assure you, if you live in suburban Cleveland, Ohio.
View from salumeria Sergio Falaschi, San Miniato, Tuscany
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