Welcome

I created this blog to document my journey into the complex and sometimes frustrating world of charcuterie. 
In the past, I played with different aspects of charcuterie but not until recently did I get the "bug". 
While doing a food station for a local charity, I met a local chef that was curing and smoking his own bacon. 
Then it hit me. Why am I not making my own bacon? 
That was just the start.  Soon the flood gates of why not opened up for making other foods.
With the Playas help and some new charcuterie books, we gathered all the right equipment, cures, and spices to do it right. 
I started a batch of bellies for bacon, turned some pork butt into tasso ham, and ground the rest into what would become smoked andouille sausage.

 

 

Charcuterie to me is going back to the roots of cookery and discovering the fundamentals on which so many products today are based. 
I hope this blog will inspire you to dive into charcuterie as I have and explore the possibilities. 
I will be updating this blog weekly if not daily as I make my journey through this vast subject.
 

The books I use: 

Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing 
by Michael Ruhlman with Brian Polcyn
The Art of Charcuterie 
by John Kowalski and The Culinary Institute of America

Books on my wishlist:
The Art of Fermentation: An In-Depth Exploration of Essential Concepts and Processes from Around the World 
by Sandor Ellix Katz
Salumi: The Craft of Italian Dry Curing 
by Michael Ruhlman with Brian Polcyn
Meat. Salt. Time. Salumi Master Cristiano Creminelli 
by Tony Seichrist
The Art of Making Fermented Sausages 
by Stanley Marianski

This blog is dedicated to the Playa. Without his support, this exploration would not be possible.