Charcuterie
Back in July I found the book Charcuterie by Michael Ruhlman and Brian Polcyn while poking around at the New York City Library. Before I got through the first chapter, I knew this was a book I wanted to own and I returned it to the library. After a very irritating experience with Abe Books (don’t use them), and a 7-week delivery time from a bookseller less than an hour’s drive away, the book was finally in my very anxious hands. The book is a wealth of information about salt and meat, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in hand preserved meats.
The chapters include a wide range of subjects including salt cures, brining, smoking, sausage making, dry-cured meats, terrines and confit, among others. The recipes range from very simple to very complex, but there is just a ton of interesting information in there, and it is very well written and researched, and even has very nice and helpful hand drawn illustrations.
Last week as I was heading to work on the train, perusing the “sources” appendix in the back of the book, I saw the heading for “outstanding sausages, especially dry-cured sausages and meats,” and was very surprised and happy to see that one of the 2 places in the U.S. that the book recommends was just a few blocks away from my office at the corner of 29th Street and 8th Ave, Salumeria Biellese. I just love New York for those moments when you realize that something you are really interested in is right under your nose. Well, of course that day I took a stroll over to the shop during my lunch break. I was very surprised by the look of the place which was totally nondescript; I have probably walked by it 100 times, and have never given it a second look. The place has been open since 1925, and is apparently one of the largest wholesalers of sausages in the country, and I beleve all of their meats are cured in a building right there in Manhattan.
I walked in the door, and it was not at all what I expected. It looked like a dingy sub-par New York deli counter with dirty tables, and steaming buffet trays behind glass filled with unappetizing pastas and soggy to-go lunches. I walked around looking for some sausages. After seeing the huge diversity of offerings on their website I was expeciting a smorgasbord of sausage. Nothing. Just the dingy counter. I got the attention of a guy working there, and asked him about the sausages. He sorta motioned to a cooler behind the cabinet, and asked me what I wanted. I had no idea what they had, so I just asked for a selection of what he would recommend. He ended up slicing me up a 1/4 pound each of the genoa salami, hot and sweet soppressata, prosciutto, and bresaola. There wasn’t much other interaction, but I left with a bag of over a pound of top quality cured meats for about 14 bucks.
The meats were delicious, and I will be going back there. I especially recommend the prosciutto, the sweet soppressate and the bresaola. From reading online, I think you could order some of their more unusual products if you called ahead and had them set one aside for you. This place is a little weird, but a great place to know about.
Stay tuned for more posts about charcuterie. I don’t think I will be attempting any dry cured meats anytime soon, but there are a lot of other recipes in that book that I must try.
How cool would it be to make all that stuff yourself? You know, Mr. Barcowboy, it may be time to start raising some pigs in your backyard….
I would love to raise a couple pigs one day. You wait and see. Suprisingly, I don’t think that Jersey City is the place for it, although there are certainly plenty of pigs around here!
It would be really cool to make that stuff. Most of it really doesn’t sound super complicated, if you are willing to take some time and not be pissed off if you fail. The main tool you need is a place where you can store the meat and be able to control temperature and humidity.