Pork is an interesting meat. In my eyes it has the most variety. It is the host to pork loin, salami, bacon, prosciutto, all of where are extremely different in texture, color and flavor. To start our lesson we focused on the butt. We cut it off the hunk and 'trussed' it. This means pulling in all of the meat to one firm piece and tying it up with string. I may have mentioned this in another post but in case not, trussing is done to allow meat to cook evenly. After trussing we broke down the rib area. We cut through each rib, separating the chops and the ribs. As we cleaned our meat Chef cooked us a set of pork loin and baby back ribs. Said best by Chili's-"I love my baby back baby back baby back ribs".
Prosciutto happens to be one of my favorite things to eat. There is something delicate but delicious about it. It also reminds me of my time studying in Florence, Italy where it was acceptable (and cost efficient) to eat it every day-so I did. I asked Chef if it was possible to make your own prosciutto. Although she answered yes, you need a specific climate to store it in. It is also risky since failure to prepare it properly could cause it to not cook and make you sick. I will hold off on this for now and stick with buying my prosciutto from the local Italian markets. In the mean time, Chef told us about one of her trips to Parma, Italy where she went to a prosciutto factory. She said she met a man whose job is to rub the ham with the perfect amount of salt and curing agents. There is also another man who sticks each piece with a special bone to see if it is ready. Who would have ever known these jobs existed? In Parma they hang their prosciutto in this warehouse but they leave the windows open to add the flavor of the wind from the mountains. I thought this unique touch was so interesting, and something I never would have even thought about previously. What I do know, the next time I go to Italy I will be sure to visit this factory.
No comments:
Post a Comment