Ah, charcuterie. From the French, literally cooked meat or in Italian, Salumi, the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, pates, and confit, primarily from pork (courtesy of Wikipedia).The chef for this class is world renown for his skill and passion for charcuterie. He has two restaurants in the Detroit area, Five Lakes Grill and Forest Grill. His text, co-authored with foodie writer Michael Ruhlman, is THE book on the subject.
On day one, the chef gave us a brief tour of the classroom and the equipment we'll be using: sausage stuffer, smoker, meat grinder. Then we partnered up and started production after an introductory lecture. "All hail the pig!"
This week, my partner and I are working on products that will be smoked. Today, we soaked whole chickens and duck breasts in brine and set them in the cooler overnight. We sliced up some beef and mixed it with a spice rub for jerky. We prepped smoked salmon, again by mixing a spice rub and leaving it to sit overnight.
I hear that we'll be tackling confit by the end of the week.
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