I know its been a while, but we have been crazy busy..
We had pig week or as it is called in Italy Sagra di Maiale!
It all started by us going to a pig slaughter house.... we met our pig and watched it being slaughtered... not something i ever want to see again, but it gave me a new found respect for my food! making me hesitant to throw anything away! by seeing the pig being slaughtered i want to use every part and trust me... every part is yummy!
We made sooo many different things from just 1 and a half pigs! wow!
1) liver with caul fat - or us we know it in SA... skilpadjies, but with pigs liver! i was hesitant at first, but it was tasty! actually, really tasty!
2) Liver and heart blood sausage - this one i gave a skip... too much blood and i just couldnt bring myself to eat heart!
4) Grilled tenderloin - seriously! who doesnt love pork fillet and then when it is marinated in red wine and bayleaves it is just impossible to find anything bad to say about it!
5) Roasts - not 1, not 2, but 5 different roasts and we all played a part in the falvouring! wow! a slow roasted pork belly or leg is just something that very few things can compete with!
6) Bollito - all the bones are placed in a pot and boiled and the meat is flaked off and used in head cheese or in n'duja (which ill get to later)
7) Ragu - yay!!!!! Bolognese!!! one of my Favourites! and the best part is when it can to eating this the pasta we cooked with it was imported from SA!!!! Rialto foods!!!! and my chefs were pissed off because the pasta was beautifully packaged, AMAZING texture and cheaper than the italian stuff!!! i have one thing to say about that! we dont f*ck around in SA!
8) N'duja- this is something you will all be experiencing when im back! it is the tastiest meat cooked until it falls apart, mixed with pure, beautiful fat and LOADS of chilli! it is hot as hell, but the flavour is unlike anything else ive ever tasted! and what makes it even better is that it is served with pasta! wowie!!!!
9)Head cheese - no its not some nasty concoction like the name makes it seem! it is actually a terrein made from the soft, delicate meat taken from the head. We added truffles to this, so i was not a big fan, but i am excited to try this again at home with flavours that i love!
10) Pancetta- what can i say!? this is such an essential part of cooking that there are not enough words to describe all the dishes we have made with this!
11) Guanciale- this is the jowel! it has a beautiful, very delicate flavour with LOADS of fat, so it is perfect for traditional dishes such as Arrabiata and Carbonara. it gives a deapth of flavour that few other things do.
12) Sausages - Southern, Northern and everything inbetween! spicy, not, sweet, we made it all! and just to put it out there! all the meat is cut by hand! NO GRINDER! it took hours upon hours!
13) Culatello - the heart of the procuitto.. this is the most delicate part of the hind leg and people in the south started making this, because the winter in the South is alot shorter than in the North, so it got too hot for curing/drying before the Porcuitto was done, so the cut out a smaller piece and this was perfect for the amout of time they had
14) Capocollo - the neck meat. there is a lot of fat on this piece, which makes it perfect for curing... and once again... amazing flavour.. i mean seriously... its cured pork with loads of fat! what could be better?!
15) Bacone – Good old bacon! And who doesn’t love bacon! It was scary to see the difference between the stuff you buy in a bag at the store and the real thing! Not only is the flavour of the real thing a million times better, but the texture! The real thing crisps up almost immediately since there is no brine injected into it! And the flavour is more intense, since there is no water inside the meat!
16) Carne Salata – Cured fat… yes I know it sound bad, but you don’t eat this on its own.. you add it to ragu’s and things and it lifts the flavour to a new dimention… since flavour is in fat!
17) Lardo di Colonata – Beautiful, pure back fat that is cured and used to wrap around things without enough fat on their own! Wow! The delicate flavour it adds to anything is something I hope everytone will get to try!
18) Lard – pure, untainted fat! This has no pork taste so it can be used for everything from cooking to baking and like I said in a previous blog… lard is what makes focaccia crisp!
19) Stinco – pork trotters… we marinated them, then braised them in the oven for hours until the meat fell off the bones and then we ate this on rolls! MIND BLOWING!
All that from just 1 and a half pigs! It was hard work and a journey that I hope to undertake again!
A few interesting facts about our pork and curing:
As you have seen I used wow, amazing and yummy a lot, but else can I use to describe beautiful, pure, fresh pork!
x
Prepping to cut
1/2 pig
Procuitto
Sectioned pig and Lardo di Colonata
Chef John mixing the N'Duja
Curing pancetta
We had pig week or as it is called in Italy Sagra di Maiale!
It all started by us going to a pig slaughter house.... we met our pig and watched it being slaughtered... not something i ever want to see again, but it gave me a new found respect for my food! making me hesitant to throw anything away! by seeing the pig being slaughtered i want to use every part and trust me... every part is yummy!
We made sooo many different things from just 1 and a half pigs! wow!
1) liver with caul fat - or us we know it in SA... skilpadjies, but with pigs liver! i was hesitant at first, but it was tasty! actually, really tasty!
2) Liver and heart blood sausage - this one i gave a skip... too much blood and i just couldnt bring myself to eat heart!
4) Grilled tenderloin - seriously! who doesnt love pork fillet and then when it is marinated in red wine and bayleaves it is just impossible to find anything bad to say about it!
5) Roasts - not 1, not 2, but 5 different roasts and we all played a part in the falvouring! wow! a slow roasted pork belly or leg is just something that very few things can compete with!
6) Bollito - all the bones are placed in a pot and boiled and the meat is flaked off and used in head cheese or in n'duja (which ill get to later)
7) Ragu - yay!!!!! Bolognese!!! one of my Favourites! and the best part is when it can to eating this the pasta we cooked with it was imported from SA!!!! Rialto foods!!!! and my chefs were pissed off because the pasta was beautifully packaged, AMAZING texture and cheaper than the italian stuff!!! i have one thing to say about that! we dont f*ck around in SA!
8) N'duja- this is something you will all be experiencing when im back! it is the tastiest meat cooked until it falls apart, mixed with pure, beautiful fat and LOADS of chilli! it is hot as hell, but the flavour is unlike anything else ive ever tasted! and what makes it even better is that it is served with pasta! wowie!!!!
9)Head cheese - no its not some nasty concoction like the name makes it seem! it is actually a terrein made from the soft, delicate meat taken from the head. We added truffles to this, so i was not a big fan, but i am excited to try this again at home with flavours that i love!
10) Pancetta- what can i say!? this is such an essential part of cooking that there are not enough words to describe all the dishes we have made with this!
11) Guanciale- this is the jowel! it has a beautiful, very delicate flavour with LOADS of fat, so it is perfect for traditional dishes such as Arrabiata and Carbonara. it gives a deapth of flavour that few other things do.
12) Sausages - Southern, Northern and everything inbetween! spicy, not, sweet, we made it all! and just to put it out there! all the meat is cut by hand! NO GRINDER! it took hours upon hours!
13) Culatello - the heart of the procuitto.. this is the most delicate part of the hind leg and people in the south started making this, because the winter in the South is alot shorter than in the North, so it got too hot for curing/drying before the Porcuitto was done, so the cut out a smaller piece and this was perfect for the amout of time they had
14) Capocollo - the neck meat. there is a lot of fat on this piece, which makes it perfect for curing... and once again... amazing flavour.. i mean seriously... its cured pork with loads of fat! what could be better?!
15) Bacone – Good old bacon! And who doesn’t love bacon! It was scary to see the difference between the stuff you buy in a bag at the store and the real thing! Not only is the flavour of the real thing a million times better, but the texture! The real thing crisps up almost immediately since there is no brine injected into it! And the flavour is more intense, since there is no water inside the meat!
16) Carne Salata – Cured fat… yes I know it sound bad, but you don’t eat this on its own.. you add it to ragu’s and things and it lifts the flavour to a new dimention… since flavour is in fat!
17) Lardo di Colonata – Beautiful, pure back fat that is cured and used to wrap around things without enough fat on their own! Wow! The delicate flavour it adds to anything is something I hope everytone will get to try!
18) Lard – pure, untainted fat! This has no pork taste so it can be used for everything from cooking to baking and like I said in a previous blog… lard is what makes focaccia crisp!
19) Stinco – pork trotters… we marinated them, then braised them in the oven for hours until the meat fell off the bones and then we ate this on rolls! MIND BLOWING!
All that from just 1 and a half pigs! It was hard work and a journey that I hope to undertake again!
A few interesting facts about our pork and curing:
· Only sows are used – the meat from a boar is too gamey
· The sow can not be on heat, the meat has a bad taste
· The pork is not allowed anti-biotics within 6 weeks of slaughter
· The sow can not have any disease or infection
· Every pig is checked by a vet before and after slaughter to be sure there was no stress to the animal… a stress animal gives bad meat
· Pork for curing and never be refrigerated
· 1.8% salt of meat weight is enough to completely cure the meat with no nitrates!
As you have seen I used wow, amazing and yummy a lot, but else can I use to describe beautiful, pure, fresh pork!
x
