This is the gigantic piece of Mangalitsa Lardo that's been curing for 3 weeks. I've never cured anything for this long. Then again, I've never had anything this thick to cure before. As a gauge to it's thickness, I inserted a toothpick(far right). You can see the thickness is actually as thick as the toothpick. You can also see that is not even the thickest part of the Lardo! I hope that the 3 week cure was enough, but, it did feel pretty well cured. The cure consisted of juniper, rosemary and bay, along with salt, pepper, sugar and cure #2. All that's left now is to let it sit there for 2 months. I'm looking forward to this one. This may be my best work yet.
Wow. That's one nice piece if lardo.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to hearing about the results
What type of container held this and the cure? I know the Italians have a special stone walled chambers, but I don't exactly have one laying around. Lardo has been on my list for a while, but until I found the wolly pigs supply, I hadn't come across a lard that impressed me.
ReplyDeleteI've had similar issues with Lardo. Never able to find an adequate piece of backfat. Damn skinny pigs!
ReplyDeleteLooks great! Was there any liquid produced during the cure? I'm curing some backfat now, unfortunately not Mangalitsa, and it's producing almost no liquid.
ReplyDeleteNo, none at all. If it's a quality piece of fat, it shouldn't. I was informed it is 98% fat, so, no moisture at all.
ReplyDeletewow, cannot wait to hear how this one turns out!
ReplyDeleteI also hope you do a follow-up. And a detailed step-by step????
ReplyDeleteAwesome! I just finished my puny little piece of lardo.. only like 1" thick. Cured in thyme, junniper, bay, rosemary, sugar, salt and pepper. There was a great recipe in La Cucina Italiana magazine recently for a lardo studded roast. Can't wait to try it!
ReplyDeleteScott, just finished up the chunk of lardo from Colluccio's that you sent me. I practically had to arm wrestle my son for the last scraps! This one that you're curing from the Mangalitsa should be even better.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the weight of this chunk of back fat? Each of the jowls I got off my 450-pound sow weighed in at 7 pounds. Can you say guanciale? I knew you could!
It's looking really good Scott.. waiting to hear the tasting report.. I'm thinking about doing one of my own.
ReplyDeleteI had to wait a year until I could find the right piece of backfat, Todd. Lardo has proven to be a real pain in the ass..............until now!
ReplyDeleteThat looks beautiful! I am inspired.
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