If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times. Prosciutto, while commonly associated with a pig leg, can really be made with anything. In this case; a goat leg. This is a a typical salume from Valchiavenna, just a few kilometers from Switzerland. Normally, this is made from the leg of a mountain goat. Unfortunately, mountain goats seem to be in short supply here in Atlanta, so I used what I could find.
The name of the product is pretty interesting. It's called a Violino di Capra, which translated to "goat violin". It has this name because the consumer is meant to hold the cured goat leg like a violin and slice it with a knife as if it we're a violin bow. You can see a good picture of that here. It's passed from diner to diner for each person to slice at will. I vividly remember eating this as a kid in Italy, and distinctly remember the really gamey, bracing flavor and the chewy tough meat. I've been looking forward to making it for a while. I've read that by tradition once the Violino is started, people cannot leave the table until the whole thing is finished! Recipes are guarded very jealously, passed on father to son, so it looks like I'll have to come up with my own recipe. Of course I'll share it here!
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Violino di Capra - Goat Prosciutto
Friday, December 17, 2010
Cotechino 2010
It's that time of year again, when cotechino makes its yearly appearance, in preparation for the New Years feast! I've explained the story of cotechino a couple of times before, both in 2008 and 2009. This year I was fortunate enough to have some concia, or spice mixture, from a fellow Italian in San Francisco. He gets it from his uncle in Italy, and he kindly sent me a pack to try. Sorry, i don't know what's in it, but i think it's the usual spice suspects which you can see on previous years posts.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Meet the Nasone
I'm sure many of you have heard of Zampone, the foreleg of a pig which has been "emptied" and then used as a "bag" for cotechino filling. It's really quite delicious. It's called a Zampone because it's a derivative of the word "zampa" which means "trotter" in Italian.
Well, I decided to invent my own insaccato (stuffed charcuterie/cured meat). I'm naming it the Nasone. I'm going to apply for IGP or DOP status.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Salame di Capra - Goat Salame
This is my 1st attempt at a goat salame.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Coppa - Whole
A little while ago I was roaming the isles at my local Asian grocery store, and in the pork section i noticed some thinly cut, very round steaks labeled "pork steak". It was really heavily marbled, and I thought to myself, "wow, that looks like a coppa steak....i wonder if I can get the whole piece that these steaks were cut from". I went up to the meat counter and asked if this part was the neck or collar of the pig. He told me it was (although I'm not certain he understood my question), and he said he had a whole one.
You might remember my issue with procuring coppa muscles, having to buy whole shoulders and carving out the coppa from them, in the hope that the butcher hadn't mangled it. Amazingly, what i was able to buy as "pork steak" seemed to be a whole coppa, and on top of that, it was nicely trimmed into the correct shape for me! I couldn't wait to cure it.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Hey, look what I found!!
One of the main problems with the Kitchenaid grinder is the proprietary grinder plates that go with it (standalone grinders use standard plates that come in a billion sizes). There are really only 2 sizes...."fine" and "very fine". The "fine" grinder grinder plate is 1/4", which is pretty good for many salami, the "very fine" is not particularly useful except for a few things. So I had a friend in a machine shop make me a larger 7/16" plate (someone on ebay makes them, take a look there, they're a great deal at $15 a piece). It works really well, but it's a just a HAIR too big. The other day I checked out Ebay to see if anyone had made any other custom plates, and imagine my surprise when I ran into a Kitchenaid "coarse" grinder plate, which didn't look like my "coarse" grinder plate!
It appears that at some point, quite a few years ago, Kitchenaid decided that for home use, a 1/4" coarse plate would be more useful than the one they had back then in the kit, a 3/8" one. I would agree that 1/4" is more useful for stuff like burger...but 3/8" i think would be nice to have for salame. I got it for a bargain $12!
Here is the plate I just got in the mail. I think it'll be a perfect size for many salami...excited to use it.
My advice to all those with a KA grinder is to keep an eye open at thrift stores, flea markets or Ebay for an old style "coarse" Kitchenaid grinder plate.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Guanciale - Finally ready
After 2 months in the curing chamber, starting at 54 deg. F and 75% RH and dropping to 54 F and 65% RH after the 1st month, the guanciale is finally ready. It has a nice firmness and nice aroma.
