Salami Recipe :
On the left is about a kilo of pork shoulder (including bones). On the right is 200g of back fat. Half an hour in the freezer will make the meat easier to handle
Remove bones, skin and any stringy connective tissue from the shoulder and slice the meat around 1cm thick
Cut each slice into batons then across into dice
Go over the pile roughly with a big chopping knife so part of the meat is more finely and irregularly cut. Skip this phase if you like your salami chunky, spend ages on it if you like it smoother
Cut the back fat into 1cm dice
Combine the chopped shoulder meat (should be around 800g) with the cubed fat (200g) and weigh accurately. The proportion for curing is at least 25g of salt for every kilogram of meat
Select your flavourings. You can go all manner of wild here but I've stayed basic. 1 clove garlic and half a teaspoon each of fennel and black pepper. Grind the ingredients with a pestle and mortar, and along with your measured salt work it all into the meat mixture with your hands
You can also try paprika, rosemary, orange peel or pretty much anything else you fancy. If you're feeling particularly French you can also add 150ml of rough red wine
Chill the stuffing mix for a couple of hours while soaking the casings
If you're lucky enough to have a mincer attachment you can use it as a stuffer ...
... or you can pick up a cheap sausage funnel and pack by hand
Twist and cut your salamis to length then tie off the ends of the casings in a knot and secure with string. Make a loop at one end
Weigh each salami and label it with ingredients, date and weight
Hang your salamis outside to dry. Chose a place where they're under some cover, in clear circulating air and protected from animals and birds. If you have an outdoor shed or garage it might do or you can rig up a simple hanging safe like this from wire mesh and a small dustbin lid. A dry white mould is acceptable on the outside of the skin but patches of fur or coloured mould should be washed off as they develop with a weak solution of vinegar in water
Your salamis will be ready to eat after a month of hanging. You'll know they're done when they have lost around 30% of their weight. They will be softer in texture than many cheap shop-bought salamis ...
Parma ham recipe and info
Air-dried hams rely simply on salting and drying to produce their finished texture and taste. The basic procedure is a two-stage affair: curing, then drying. Find out how to do it yourself with this step-by-step guide from The River Cottage Cookbook.
For the cure, the whole leg is completely packed in salt and pressed under a substantial weight to accelerate the moisture loss and salt penetration.
This pressing also contributes to the dense texture of the ham. Once cured, the ham is hung to dry and mature in a cool airy place for several months.
Air-dried hams are eaten 'raw', and at their best must rank as one of the greatest delicacies you can make with a pig. In Italy every region has its special air-dried ham, of which Parma ham is the most famous.
The Alpine hams of Haute Savoie and the Serrano hams of Spain can also be delectably distinctive, demonstrating that the taste and texture of an air-dried ham varies according to the diet and variety of the pig, and the length and conditions of the curing and hanging.
In making your own dry-cured ham it is best not to think in terms of imitating European regional classics but rather enjoying whatever turns out to be distinctive about your own idiosyncratic version.
As long as you don't salt it too much or cut it too early, it is very likely to be delicious.
The secret of success is to be well organised: read the instructions below carefully before you even take your pigs to slaughter. Get your ham-making kit together well in advance and talk to your butcher about your needs.
Work out where you are going to store your ham while it cures, and where you are going to hang it. Attend to the detail and you have every chance of first-time success.
Once in a while, and sometimes for no good reason one can think of, a hanging ham will go rotten on you. It's heart-breaking when it does, but all you can do is get back in the saddle and try again.
What you need
The equipment (for each ham)
- a wooden wine case or similar-shaped box (plastic will do but don't use a metal one) with a few small holes in the base for drainage
- a 10-15kg weight
- a wooden or plastic board
- plenty of muslin
- butcher's string
- a darning needle
- a sharp skewer
The ingredients
- 1 leg of pork
- about 5kg fine cooking salt (not sea salt)
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns, cracked
- 1 tbsp coriander seeds, cracked
- white wine vinegar
Ask your butcher to cut legs for dry-curing as 'long' as possible, to maximise the size of the ham.
Italian-style prosciuttio is boned out, so that it can be sliced very finely with an automatic circular meat slicer.
You can make air-dried ham on the bone (See below), but for the beginner a boned-out ham has less risk of going bad, as you can rub plenty of salt into the cavity to help cure it from the inside as well as the outside.
There are two ways to bone out a ham for dry-curing. The simplest is to slit through the skin and meat on the 'short' side of the leg (i.e. the side where most of the meat is exposed by cutting from the main carcass) right along the length of the bone.
Use the point of a very sharp knife to nick the meat away from the bone until you can lift the whole thing out. It takes patience and practice but is something an amateur can make a reasonably tidy job of.
Once you have removed the bone, take a handful of salt and rub it well into the cut surface of the meat from which the bone was taken. After salting the inside of the leg you will need to stitch it up again.
This is done by bringing back together the edges of the cut you made to access the bone, to reform the shape of the ham, and stitching it with good butcher's string.
First use a sharp skewer to make the holes for stitching, and then run the string through the holes with the darning needle.
You need a good tight blanket stitch.
You can avoid the stitching process by asking your butcher to 'tunnel-bone' the leg for you. This is a highly skilled technique which not all today's butchers are up to, but it does create a natural cavity to rub the salt into without the need for stitching.
Once you have removed the bone, take a handful of salt and rub it well into the cut surface of the meat from which the bone was taken. After salting the inside of the leg you will need to stitch it up again.
This is done by bringing back together the edges of the cut you made to access the bone, to reform the shape of the ham, and stitching it with good butcher's string.
First use a sharp skewer to make the holes for stitching, and then run the string through the holes with the darning needle.
You need a good tight blanket stitch.
You can avoid the stitching process by asking your butcher to 'tunnel-bone' the leg for you. This is a highly skilled technique which not all today's butchers are up to, but it does create a natural cavity to rub the salt into without the need for stitching.
Pour salt in a layer about 2cm thick over the base of the wine case.
Sprinkle the cracked peppercorns and coriander seeds over the salt and place the leg in the box with the lean, meaty side down and wide skin side facing up.
Pour the rest of the salt in an even layer over the leg until every bit of it is covered by at least 2cm of salt. Cover with a piece of wood or plastic that just fits inside the wine box and covers as much as possible of the leg.
Place a large weight (a stone or a concrete block will do) weighing 1½-2 times the weight of the leg on top of the board.
Leave the box in a cool, dry larder or cellar and check regularly to ensure that no mice or rats have been burrowing into the salt to get at your ham!
The weight of the ham will determine how long it should be salted: it should be left for no fewer than 3 days per kilo and no more than 4 (the latter is 'safer' but your ham may turn out a little on the salty side).
When you have left the ham for the allotted time, remove it from the box and wash thoroughly with fresh cold water to remove excess salt. Rub the whole joint with white wine vinegar and wrap completely in a double layer of muslin, tied tightly with butcher's string.
Hang in a cool, well-ventilated place for 4-6 months to 'wind dry'. Ventilation is essential, and the more 'wind' the faster and better the cure.
A draughty barn or garage would be a suitable location; I hang mine in the porch at River Cottage. Or, like my friend Victor, you could construct a rainproof frame for your hams and hang them in a tree.
Surround the frame with chicken wire to make it bird- and squirrel-proof, but not windproof.
A squeeze with the fingertips will tell you when your ham is ready: it should be very firm but not quite rock hard - still giving just a little.
Taking down your ham after many months is a moment of high excitement. Don't be alarmed to find, on unwrapping it, that it is covered in mould. This doesn't mean it has gone rotten, and the mould is easily scrubbed off with a nail brush dipped in vinegar.
If it is rotten you will know: it will smell bad and be black in parts.
Slice the ham as finely as you can (you'll see why a circular meat slicer is such a godsend). Pour yourself a glass of fine wine and sample away. It's possible you will find hams cured in this way a little on the salty side.
A squeeze with the fingertips will tell you when your ham is ready: it should be very firm but not quite rock hard - still giving just a little.
Taking down your ham after many months is a moment of high excitement. Don't be alarmed to find, on unwrapping it, that it is covered in mould. This doesn't mean it has gone rotten, and the mould is easily scrubbed off with a nail brush dipped in vinegar.
If it is rotten you will know: it will smell bad and be black in parts.
Slice the ham as finely as you can (you'll see why a circular meat slicer is such a godsend). Pour yourself a glass of fine wine and sample away. It's possible you will find hams cured in this way a little on the salty side.
Having something sweet on hand to balance this often enhances the pleasure.
Fresh melon or figs are the classic accompaniments to Parma ham, but cherry tomatoes, as sweet as possible, are also excellent.
Dried figs, gently poached with a few pickling spices until tender and then left to cool , are my all-time favourite accompaniment.
Dried figs, gently poached with a few pickling spices until tender and then left to cool , are my all-time favourite accompaniment.
