The Makers Club to host nose-to-tail charcuterie classes

A generation of twentysomethings are growing up never having seen meat except on plastic trays in the supermarket.

"And only about a third of what comes from the animal at that. Where is the rest of it?" says Chris Illuk.

Illuk, a former lawyer, and mate Dom Bird of Local Mobile Deli, a food truck selling deli-style sandwiches, intend to answer this question as well as other "why, where and how" topics around food with The Makers Club, kicking off in the new year.

"People are really interested in these old techniques, from pickling and preserving to smoking," Bird says. The first in the series of classes is Nose to Tail.

"We started out with The Sausage Meet on weekends, getting together with friends and smoking and curing saucisson and pancetta. People always asked us if they could join and we could do more, so there was obviously an interest," Illuk says.

Of Polish descent, Illuk says traditional European smoked and cured meats are part of his culinary heritage. "My father hunted - we always had deer carcasses around and he's a backyard smokehouse enthusiast."

Incidentally, Illuk says that the best wood for smoking is Australian hardwood. Not chips, but as a small piece of timber.

"Most people buy mesquite, because that's what they've seen on TV but something like red gum is much more delicate and doesn't overwhelm," Illuk says.

Bird is also a keen DIY curing and smoking enthusiast, making his own pastrami for the Reuben sandwich sold through his food truck, as well as pancetta for his kimchi-pancetta toastie. He says the intent with the first Maker's Club is to show participants how to minimise waste and use all of the animal, for financial and moral reasons.

"I noticed right away with The Mobile Deli that it's not sustainable when you only use small parts of the animal. And if you're going to take the life of an animal, it's showing respect to use it all," Bird says.

An entire 40-50-kilogram free-range pig will be used in the four-class series, with the pig being fattened on a farm in the Scenic Rim. The classes will feature country butcher Trevor Domjahan, Chris' father Mariusz and a charcuterie expert. Participants will learn the techniques of sausage making, smoked ribs, bacon, pancetta, salumi, chorizo and Polish sausages, as well as ham, coppa and brawn or "head cheese".

The final session will be a shared feast served with local beer from Mount Tamborine's Fortitude Brewing. The amateur butchers will take home the cryovaced results of their efforts.

"It's hard to go back once you've made your own," Bird says. "Not only does it taste better, but you get an incredible sense of achievement when you've made it from scratch."

The Makers Club Nose to Tail classes cost $220 and run from mid-January on Wednesday evenings at Wandering Cooks, with preserving, winemaking and cheese making classes to follow. See themakersclub.com.au