Salumi

In class today, we had the chance to have a local chef come in and teach us the way of making and curing sausage and salumi. It was a very sobering experience, as we had a half-pig brought in just for making the sausage. 

We started off by watching the chef butcher the pig, taking off the diaphragm bone. After this, he removed the loin primal and cut it into two, so that we may divide butchering out. After this, he begins to take off the hind leg, which is used for prosciutto. We were given the loin, and tasked with removing the ribs, spine and the skin from the primal. As we start, all I can feel is respect for the animal that had died for our learning's sake. I move with ever-so caution as I slowly slice the skin away from the loin, removing whatever fat I can from the primal. After the skin has been cut away, I move to the ribs, making sure to follow the bones and leaving as little meat as possible on the bones, as to increase my yield.

After I remove all of the ribs, I was instructed to take half of the loin and use for cubes, and mince the rest. I was very confused as why I would be mincing the meat, as we could always just put it through a grinder. The Chef told me that when meat is minced and put into sausage, it adds texture and flavor, as the meat stays whole and does not break apart.

After the butchering was done, we all went to the front table, and began the process of stuffing sausage. We started out with the smaller casings, which were the intestines of Sheep. We stuffed these with a regular sweet sausage mix, making sure not to burst the casings as we go. Next, we stuffed the same casings with a spicy sausage mix, also making sure that we didn't burst the casing, as we don't want to wast any. Next, we used Medium sized casings, which were the large intestine of the pig, and made Soppressata, which is a type of large salumi that is sliced thin and has a kick of black pepper to it. From there, we then stuffed a Cow's Bladder with the neck-meat of the pig, and made a Capocolo, a spicy salumi.

Todays experience was truly sobering, both in the fact that we used such a fresh pig and that we truly saw the culture and meaning of no food waste. We used every inch of the pig, from the skin to the trotters. We had no waste, as it was all used in something, ranging from sausage to stock.