This week we took our first step into the world of charcuterie – well, technically, the process started back in June when we got our last batch of pork back from the butchers…
Knowing that the pork we produce is of the highest quality, we’ve been keen to find ways to showcase that in as many tasty ways as possible.
Curing is the process of preserving meat in salt and herbs and spices, before slowly air-drying it. We chose to use the Coppa muscle, which comes from the shoulder and neck of the pig – the word coppa roughly translates as “nape”, as in the neck.
After smothering the muscle in the cure, giving it a good massage and placing it in the fridge for a few weeks, it was then stuffed into special casing and left to slowly dry in a curing chamber until it had lost a third of its weight.
A patient wait of nearly three months later, and this week we finally got to test the end product!
It definitely had the desired result of showcasing the stunning quality of our meat, with the perfect amount of fat marbling through the muscle, a beautiful deep pink colour and loads of that melt-in-the-mouth flavour.
Our conclusion? Definitely a project worth pursuing!
