Artisan cured meats make a comeback
With a growing awareness toward sustainability and concern for what actually goes into the food we eat, it's no wonder dedicated butchers are lifting their game and expanding their repertoire for all things meat. For quality charcuterie speak to your local butcher to find out who is salting, curing or drying their own artisan smallgoods and you'll never buy packet stuff again.
Getting creative with cured meats is an easy way to get the protein fix you need without having to cook. Whether it's antipasto on lazy afternoons, crumbling chorizo through an omelette for a quick dinner or snacking on biltong instead of chips while watching the footy, cured meats are making a comeback.
Although most butchers have to outsource for their smallgoods, there are some that have the means – either a licence to cure on site, or their own drying machine, and are turning out the goods. This means they use the kind of meat you want to buy (grass-fed, organic, and farm bred), and do it all in-house. The result is quality cold cuts, worthy of any occasion.
Who would have thought salumi to be a sophisticated staple to have on hand? Gone are the days when the mass-produced, white speckled, slimy circles would never make an appearance at a soiree. Good salumi is now richer, drier and meatier than ever. Finding out what separates the good stuff from the rest, I ask Sam from Sam the butcher in Sydney's Bondi, only to be told in a no-nonsense tone "it's nitrate- and phosphate-free." Sam varies the heat with his salami with Italian names: Veneto, Calabrese and cacciatore, much more dinner party friendly than the conventional hot, medium and mild categories we're used to. We're also told to hang it up to dry for around 21 days (in a cool, dark place), "to give the salami its intensity".
Even chorizo is getting a makeover. While speaking with French head chef Romeo Baudouin from Victor Churchill about his Basque chorizo, he discloses the addition of espelette pepper to the pork sausage for a kick of difference. Why espelette pepper? "Because it's from my homeland. And it's the way my grandfather used to make it for me." With countless ways to use chorizo in recipes, this smoky sausage is just as good sliced and eaten as is with a chilled sherry.
From cured to marinated and dried, there's a new kind of biltong on the market, and it's making us – or those who may have compared it to beef jerky – eat our words. Air-dried beef enthusiast, Mark Tindal of Field to Fork, is using his own drying machine to produce tender chunks of marinated, grass-fed biltong. It looks - and tastes - more like dried steak. "Eat it anytime of day," says Mark, "it's full of protein, makes you big and strong." Could biltong be the new protein bar for carnivores?
Whether you like it cured or dried, cold cuts are being revamped. With temperatures on the rise, it's the perfect time to revisit old favourites and use them in new ways. Try switching off the oven sometime and start slicing; with professionals on hand doing the prep this summer, grazing will be a breeze.