Schulterspeck/Speck di Spalla/Shoulder speck

I was fortunate enough to be bequeathed some more Mangalitsa to cure by Michael. Among the several cuts I received was a shoulder. Prior to receiving said shoulder, I planned on making a Spalla Cotta, which is a cured, then cooked shoulder stuffed in a bladder. Well, plans have a funny way of changing. The shoulder I received was more akin to the cut used for leg speck. I was told that the coppa was removed and it was basically flattened, as pictured. In my suspension of disbelief, I skinned it, still thinking I could roll it and tie it and make the aforementioned salume. What a friggin mistake. I knew it, too,

even before I did it. I mean, it was abundantly apparent that Spalla Cotta was no longer a possibility. Oh well. So, here I am with a skinless piece of shoulder that is unsuitable for Spalla Cotta. Now, due to it's being skinned has become less suitable for anything for w

hich it would have been suitable had I left the skin ON. Make sense? It will. I went home and pored over all my books, researched German language Italian websites(odd, I know),

and consulted some Italian salumi forums, the best of which being this one. I knew that in Sudtirol, that they make speck with almost

every cut. I also knew that they did make speck with this actual cut. The problem is finding enough detail to actually make it. With some help over at the Italian forum, combined with my research, I found something concrete. I decided to go with rosemary, garlic, allspice and black pepper as my seasoning, as seen in this terribly non descriptive picture. Further research revealed that the smoke should be provided by beech wood, which I've subsequently purchased. In about 2 weeks, this will hit the smoke, along with s

ome other new salumi, like speck di carre or karreespeck and speck di coppa. I'll be writing about those in the near future.