Mosefund Mangalitsa Speck results

I got a couple of these mega speck back in April from Michael Clampffer. I cured and aged these exactly as I did these. Only difference is the quality of the meat. Totally different ballgame, as you can see by the marbling and the fat cap. As far as tasting is concerned, I am completely flabbergasted. I am delighted that I write everything down in my little notebook. Had I done this by the seat of my pants, I would be beside myself. This is awesome in every sense of the word. I'm sure 95% of it is the sheer quality of the product, but, I certainly didn't do anything to get in it's way. The smoke is perfect, not just in a smoky way, but, a tinge sweet, perhaps? Sliced thinly enough, the fat melts on your tongue, pretty amazing. Perfect smoky, hammy deliciousness.

There was a bit of concern during it's drying. My old chamber is so well inoculated with mold, the speck developed a really thick layer of white mold. I'm talking 1/8" worth. I left it due to it being mostly white, however, about 2 months in, some green spots moved in. No biggie, I just gave them a pretty thorough bathing in a vinegar bath. Then, I realized there was some standing water in the bottom of the chamber of which I was unaware. It was hiding under the Styrofoam on top which I place the humidifier. This contributed to a somewhat musty smell in the chamber. I removed all the salumi and cleaned out the chamber with a bleach and water solution. Smell taken care of, but, there goes all the mold I developed in there. I noticed a bit of the smell on the speck as well, and was a little apprehensive that I ruined them. So, after 4 months of drying I took it out to see where it was. I split it right down the middle and out poured the most incredible smoky, pork perfume I ever smelled. Unbelievable. This is most likely the best salume I have produced to date.

Mosefund Manga Salame Felino

This is a Salame Felino I made using both lean and fat from mangalitsa pork from Mosefund farm. Felino is a town in the hills near Parma in Emilia-Romagna. This salame is renowned for it's austerity, using just salt, black pepper, and garlic macerated white wine. Since it is also typically a salame made to be on the softer side, I chose to stuff these in somewhat larger beef middles.

I received some lean leg meat and some backfat from Michael Clampffer to make this salame. I used 85% lean and 15% backfat. They were both ground on the smallest die, which I believe to be 3/8". Along with the aforementioned salt, black pepper and garlic macerated white wine, I added t-spx lactic starter and cure #2. They were stuffed in beef middles which I soaked in mold solution. They were fermented for close to 80 hours and developed a really thorough mold coating. They were hung to dry in the curing chamber. Since some of them were needed after just the 3 month mark, they were removed and still very good. The salame pictured was aged for 4 months and is really quite lovely. Still a touch soft, perfect amount of black pepper and just enough garlic flavor to be pleasant. The one thing that really stands out is how tender the meat is, terrific for this application.

Mosefund Mangalitsa Lonzino di Calabria

As you can probably tell, I didn't take this photo. It was taken by Michael Clampffer. This is lonzino, yes Lonzino. I know......it looks like no lonzino I've ever seen, either. The marbling is just sick. Looks more like beef. This was done in the exact same fashion as the capocollo from my previous post. The

loin was cured with only salt and cure #2. It was then removed, rinsed, then rolled around in peperoncino powder to coat. Finally, I stuffed it in a beef bung and left to dry for about 2 months. I think next time I think I'll add crushed red pepper flake as well. While casing these, a lot of the peperoncino powder was rubbed off, making the spiciness inconsistent from slice to slice. A little flake should provide a some consistency. It tasted as good as it looks. Silky and rich with a nice hint of heat. Awesome stuff.

Capocollo di Calabria via Mosefund Farm

After 5+ months of waiting, we finally have a result. And what an amazing result it is! Thanks again to Michael Clampffer from Mosefund Farm for providing me with the best raw material available. This one is really simple. I've made coppe in the past and posted about them in fairly good detail. This Capocollo is simple as far as these things go. Simply cured with salt and cure #2 for a couple weeks. It was then removed and rinsed in a red wine vinegar bath, patted dry and rolled in peperoncino powder to cover. Stuffed in a beef bung, allowed to

'ferment" overnight and hung to dry for the aforementioned 5 months. One thing I've been doing differently lately, and I did with this capocollo, is soaking the casings in the actual mold dilution as opposed to spraying them. There is quite a difference in mold coverage. Soaking them provides a much heavier, consistent mold cover. However, the dilution is rubbish upon completion of stuffing. So, if you're a mold miser, this process is not for you. I find it quite effective and reliable and will continue to employ it. If you plan on making this, please do not sully your meat by using paprika or cayenne, use the real thing.

Mosefund Mangalitsa 'Nduja results

Here is the result of my previous 'nduja post. Honestly, I don't think I'm capable of producing 'nduja any better than this. I think this one looks awesome and tastes great. The texture is perfectly smooth and spreadable. The really light amount of smoke is just enough to come through. The hog middle end caps really made a difference as far as the appearance of authenticity. The 'nduja pictured aged for roughly 90 days, but, was perfectly fine at 60 days. Should have a new batch going in soon. Short post, I know, but, I HAD to show this one off. If you haven't yet made 'nduja and are thinking about it, don't forget you can get all your supplies at my store.

Fiocco/Fiochetto- byproduct of Culatello butchery

Fiocco or fiochetto, whatever you choose to call it, it is delicious. This salume was the byproduct of my culatello process back in January. Due to it being only 1/3 the size of the culatello and noticeably leaner, it dries much more quickly. This was really a no brainer. 3.5% salt, .25% cure #2, that's it. Cured it for about 14 days. Then stuffed it in a hog bladder, trussed it, tied it, hung it and forgot it, just as you see in the first pic. 52 degrees and 70-75% humidity and 4 months later.........voila! Fiocco! Not really much more to say about this. If you're going to butcher a culatello, might as well harvest this and make it as well. I've already eaten quite a few sandwiches using this. It is quite lean and subtle, yet still really moist and "hammy."

Salsiccia di Calabria....."My Calabria" style

After my initial post on this, I conferred several times with my friend Rosetta, who is the author of the outstanding book, "My Calabria." I was fortunate enough to try some of her father's Salsiccia di Calabria. Rosetta informed me the recipe is exactly that of the fresh sausage recipe from the book. Easy enough, I figured. However, the recipe doesn't call for a starter or any nitrate. But, that's no big deal at all, really.

This time around it was just some pork shoulder with the addition of some mangalitsa fat from Mosefund, only 10% of the total weight. Salt, hot pepper powder, sweet pepper powder, and some fennel seeds, along with some cure #2 and f-lc starter.......that's it. I stuffed these in regular hog casings. Fermented for close to 80 hours. They were hung to dry at 52 degrees and about 79% humidity. I'm not quite sure what's been going on in my chamber recently, but, my salumi have been taking an inordinate amount of time to dry, my salame, in particular. Typically, salame I make stuffed in regular hog casings can be done in as little as 3 weeks. For some reason, this wasn't ready for a whopping 8 weeks! I speculate that it could be the lack of moisture in the mangalitsa fat, but, at only 10% of it's total mass, that seems unlikely. When I introduced that lot of 30lbs. of 'nduja, the humidity jumped to over 80% and averaged about 82% for a couple weeks, but, that still shouldn't delay drying to that degree. So, I'm at a loss for an explanation.

Regardless, the flavor seems unaffected by the chamber's issues. It is very tasty. Perfectly balanced to where everything can be tasted and no component overwhelms. I did vary the recipe slightly. I only used half the sweet pepper powder the recipe called for and replaced the other half with hot pepper powder. The rest of the recipe was followed closely. As you can see by the picture, the powders turned the fat orange. Good stuff. I suggest buying this amazing book and giving this one a try.