Can't Wait, Gotta Cure... Coppa

So, unlike me I had to rush on with things before I finished what I started earlier this week. Ahem. But I'm so full of this stuff i may burst... And the good (bad) thing about all this is that there's another 6 weeks before I discover my overkeenness needs to be tempered with a touch more science and attention to detail...

I will finish the Empire Farm day, but got some feedback yesterday from one of you lovely readers - not enough photos, and not even any meat which I had promised... I did respond, rather defensively, that I was setting a scene and that I would get there eventually, but my need for tasting the fruit of my labour knows it's going to be ages, so the sooner I start getting the stuff done the better. Today I was going to write about my homebuilt smokehouse, the body of which I picked up earlier today on an early morning jaunt to Broadstairs. Check this baby out :

Smoked In Peckham's humble beginning..

 

 

But I spent so long looking at my new baby I didn't do anything else...

Until I got home that is, after a long chat with my friend Dave @ William Rose Butchers.

Pictured below are 2 nape fillets. One is Blythburgh Free Range Pork, the other is wild boar. I'll give you a clue. The Blythburgh pork I butchered out of a large joint, the rest of which I roasted for me and the lads earlier, the other was organised properly by Dave and is a nicely tied tight round fillet...

Armed with a bottle of Talisker, which I natch substituted for Bells after the 2nd wee dram, a window of 2 hours between the lads going to sleep (like angels tonight I must add) and me passing out with exhaustion/Talisker/Bells, I set about curing some Coppa di Parma. You can follow Le Charcutier Anglais' advice and some lovely pictures are here

Working on 30g of curing salt per kilo of meat, I spent about an hour doing whiskey fuddled sums, and each time working out I needed a whole lb of salts for my 4 1/4 lbs of pork... Before I tweeted aforementioned Charcutier for help. And then I realised there is 2.2 lbs per kilo, not t'other way round. I fear my enthusiasm may take several beatings in the coming weeks, before my incorrigible optimism grinds a victory from the jaws of rotten meat defeat. I also recognise the need to have a new, albeit less aesthetically pleasing set of scales...

No, neither the trim phone nor the soda syphon work...

 Realising my scales were not up to my fuzzy old school/new school maths wasn't the only hurdle tonight. Here, clockwise from top left, are my ingredients I added to my cure (after I realised my pestle and mortar aren't big enough for this obsession) :

Thyme

Oregano

Celery Salt

Fennel Seeds

Juniper Berries

Black Peppercorns

Unrefined Molasses Sugar 

 

Which crushed up look like this:

 

 

I made two batches of this, adding cumin to the cure for the Blythburgh Pork. If you wanted a purist you should read the blogs coming out of thisishowitssupposedtobe.com and Imaboringtosser.net rather than waste your time with me. Rub the cure into all the nooks and crannies ("OMG, now he's even plagiarising the guy who taught him on his one teeny day course. Has he no shame?")and pop into a bag. Tight into a corner of a bin bag, if you don't have a vacuum pack machine (just been outbid on Ebay Grrr) or zip-lock bags. The next bit is another bit of plagiarism, with nods and thanks to English Sushi Guru who runs these places,
which I am yet to visit, but will review next Tuesday when I have recovered from Monday's visit of Le Charcutier Anglais... 

Seriously, check dis out cos I is reknin it is wikkid innit...

1  Fill sink with water
2  Place bin bag under water so pressure pushes out air from around meat

Rubbish Picture, I know, But I Think You Get Me Innit

3  Twist bin bag above meat but below water surface several times
4  Lift out bag and tie knot as tight as you can...
5  You can then trim bin bag and place your curing meat in the fridge for 3 weeks, turning daily

Yes, we did swap sides. Almost fooled you...

3 weeks curing, followed by 3 weeks air drying (approx) looking for 30-35% weight loss. Do refer to Marc's various tips within this and his many other blogs for tips on sweetness in your cure and a gazillion recipes.

Finally I have been embarrassed by Sally at Empire Farm, who says my account of the day at her place is "a cracking read". Farewell To Arms. That's a cracking read. The only book to make me cry, but that's for another end of boring blog's blog. Still, even better news from the farm's blog is that Harriet's piglets have arrived. I urge any of you that have ever thought about really knowing what you eat, how it has been treated, reared and the rest, consider their Raise A Pig Scheme. I'm in, while we wait for Adam's lot to drop!!