Things that Cure & Dry

by Jen

I've seen some interesting things in my time working around the kitchen at Lochiel. Some amazing staff meals - fish head soup, anyone? The beginnings of Tony's food experiments - how about parmesan and black truffle nougat? And then there was the time I found beer being fed to pests in the vege patch (it keeps them away, apparently!) But nothing could have prepared me for what I found when I went to the coolroom last week to re-stock the drinks fridge...

Sitting there in a bucket, I was confronted by the surreal vision of a little pig's snout sticking out of what I would later find out was salt brine. It was a bit like something out of Lord of the Flies. At first I was horrified. Then I became fascinated. "What on earth is going on here?" I though to myself. Then it dawned on me - this was bound to be the start of one of Tony's latest obsessions! Sure enough I found out that Tony was curing a pig's head in salt water to be made into a terrine.

Upon further questioning, Tony explained to me that with the colder weather, we are now entering what is traditionally the best time of year for storing meat while it is being cured. In the colder regions of the Southern Hemisphere, meat can be hung on racks out in the great outdoors while it is being air dried or smoked. In Australia, various pests and animals aren't deterred by the cold weather, and so it is more suitable to use a cool, dark room indoors such as a basement or cellar. Now, I don't know if it was always a cunning plan of Tony's to eventually use our wine cellar as a place to store meat and other food items, but as it turns out, during winter, it's the perfect place to do so! Staying at a constant temperature of 13 degrees and in virtual darkness, the wine cellar is now being used to store 4 slabs of beef eye round which have are being dry cured with a coating of salt, pepper, sugar, rosemary and juniper berries. By using the process of dry curing, excess moisture is drawn out of the meat. With a good amount of salt, bacteria is also kept at bay. After 5 weeks, Tony should have something that will start to resemble bresaola which is a type of cured meat that originated in Lombardy, Italy.

There are many reasons for curing meat, but for Tony, one of the most appealing is that he can use secondary cuts which would otherwise be thrown away. One of Lochiel's main suppliers of meat is Feather and Bone, a small business which sources product which is sustainable from animals which are well treated during their upbringing. Feather and Bone's owner, Grant Hilliard is often left with secondary cuts which his buyers, mainly restaurants, aren't interested in. Being the savvy chef that he is, Tony has realised that he can make the most of such an opportunity, which is how a pig's head came to be in our coolroom!

The recipe Tony has used comes from a book named The Art of Charcuterie which is written by John Kowalski. Below you can find a copy.

Bresaola

Makes about 2LB/907g

Ingredients:

1 oz/28g kosher salt

1 oz/28g granulated (caster) sugar

2 lb 8 oz/1.13kg beef eye round, cleaned of fat and sinew

1 tbsp black peppercorns

1.5 tsp chopped rosemary

8 juniper berries, chopped

1. Mix the salt and sugar together. Rub the beef with this mixture and let stand in a refrigerator for 2 hours.

2. Grind the peppercorns, rosemary and juniper berries together in a spice grinder or blender.

3. Remove the beer and rub the spices all over, making sure to cover all areas.

4. Wrap the beef in cheese cloth or muslin cloth, tied in place with kitchen string. Hang in a refrigerator (or a cool, dark place) for 5 weeks at 16 to 18 degrees celcius with 55 to 60 per cent humidity. When the beef is done, unwrap it from the cloth, wrap in plastic and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 weeks.