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Salami fest


After I posted yesterday about my current obsession with curing meats, I was challenged by a few, no doubt sceptical, readers (yes, apparently I do have them) so here is a shot of what's maturing right now. On the left, some venison pancetta (I just had a bacon sandwich: very meaty but really rather good) and the salamis: pork, venison and (pork) chorizo. These were all started on 17th March so they'll need a few weeks to reduce to 70% of their original weight which, apparently, is the point where they are ready to eat although, from my first attempts, they will need much longer to dry to the point where I would want to enjoy them. At that point I can vacuum seal any that need to have their maturation slowed down.

Basic salami recipe:

500g pork belly
500g pork shoulder – both should be ground fairly thick then mixed with the wine and:
100ml red wine (I used Muro's Rioja Crianza 2015 'Bujanda' since I was also making chorizo, saving the rest of the bottle for later, of course)
1/2tsp garlic powder
1tsp chilli flakes
1tsp black pepper, ground
1tsp black peppercorns
26g Prague Powder #2 (about 2.5g Prague Powder with the rest Himalayan salt)

Mix and leave in a fairly warm environment overnight to start the fermentation before putting into well washed beef middle cases and hanging to dry (somewhere cool and dark, ideally with air flow) until they are no more than 70% of their original weight. This will take at least four to six weeks and probably longer to firm up. A white mould may (should) form - this is good: it helps to develop flavour and protects the salami from any unwanted light.

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