in this post I'd like to share a recipe that my in-laws at home and keeps preparing for the slaughter of pigs in the area Maestrat. It is cured pork belly. The process is very simple and reflects a kitchen "survival" where the talent made up for a tightening economy.
Salt is a preservative that has been used since ancient times, to reduce the level of liquid food (dehydration), reduce the level of harmful bacteria and enhance the flavor of food.
Ingredients:
- 1-2 kgs of raw bacon
- salt
-
ground black pepper - paprika and spicy
Vera began by selecting a piece of bacon. We can choose a piece that contains only fat and this will give a white bacon or a bacon that contains some meat, called streaky or Viada by region. We opted to prepare the latter, streaky bacon, though personally the one made only with the fat part I like best. But this is a matter of taste.
We put the bacon on a wooden board and sectioned at 1-2 inches wide across the width of the piece. This will allow more rapid and uniform drying of the piece. The courts must reach the skin, but without being cut, so that we keep all the pieces together.
Once the cuts, salted piece on all sides, including the space between cuts. We must be more than generous with the salt. What I do is throw a lot of salt on top and distribute it with your hands on the piece. When I finished, I go back to salting again. Let me stress that this salt punto actúa como elemento de conserva y que su influencia en el sabor final es todavía limitada.
Con la carne ya salada el siguiente paso es buscar un lugar seco donde dejarla reposar durante una semana. Lo ideal, y casi idílico, sería un lugar donde la carne quede bien ventilada y sea seco, preferiblemente en alta montaña. Como ésto no es siempre posible, la nevera de casa es una muy buena alternativa, pues el nivel de humedad es bajo. Así que buscaremos un lugar dentro de la nevera donde podamos dejarla durante este tiempo, colocando la carne sobre un plato grande.
La sal actuará en un proceso, llamado ósmosis, donde retirará agua del interior de la carne outwards. Water removed so that it is not in contact with the meat, my mother put it on an inverted plate, which dropped water on the plate and was separated from the meat. During these seven days, we can go watch that are not covered mold and removing the water from the bottom plate. As the process moves forward we can add more salt on the meat.
After the initial seven days, the meat will have lost most of the water and start to have some consistency. This is the time where we leave the flesh with its final finish. Pass a paper towel over the meat to remove any traces of moisture and sprinkle with a little pepper, paprika sweet and spicy paprika from La Vera. The amount and kind is to individual tastes. We can enhance the flavor by adding more salt, but with caution as it does influence the final finish.
With this condiment, one must be allowed to cure the meat two or three more weeks, making sure that does not dry out too much and you're ready to start eating. These additional weeks may be in a dry place or refrigerator. You have to watch that does not dry out too much to keep it tender, but this is a matter of personal taste.
Bon appetit!
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