My Amico Vincenzo Liberatore asked me to make some salsiccia with Prosecco to be served at Grano when the owner of Astoria Prosecco will visit in October.  I have made Prosecco-infused sausages before, but this time I felt like inventing something different...

I worked on the initial recipe all day Sunday 8AM to 11PM...so far so good.  Here it is:

I bought enough pork but shoulder.  The chunks already cleaned for pulled pork.  I also got some ham.  I removed all sinew and bad fat.

The pork is not heritage but free range Mennonite grown.

A whole bottle of Prosecco for 10 kg of meat.  Herbs from my garden, lemon peel, garlic, pepper hot pepper. phenol...

I did a different ...

After four years from the first batch I am ready to start making Baccatore on a regular basis.  Baccatore is a cacciatore-style dry sausage infused with Baco Noir.  I made a few batches years ago and left them to age at my amico Salvatore Lembo cellar since the humidity there is optimal with a lot of room.  Unfortunately, I was not going there often enough to check the progress and the sausages dried out. I immersed  then in Baco Noir to try to soften.   As an inspiration I covered them with espresso coffee grind, pepper, cocoa powder and grape skin powder and put them in a wine crate for about a year in Salvatore's cellar.

When I tried them a year later they seemed to ...

September 18, 2011 

Last week I received  six Berkshire pork cheeks. I am taking advantage of the beautiful herbs in my garden for the cure.

The method is the usual, using sea salt, pepper, garlic and herbs. Of course the introduction of wine is imperative. After the three-day cure, I wine rinse the cheeks and then immerse in an aromatizied wine bath for about a day so to get rid of the extra salt. ( I firmly believe  that salt enhances the flavours when it is added on the plate and it isof the highest quality and according to one's taste preferences).  My favourite table salt is Maldon because of its delicious crunch that drives you mad with explosive flavours)...

     I am going to try making Lardo in the same way it is done in the caves in the town of Colonnata in the Appuan Alps in Tuscany  (Lardo di Colonnata) 

I have a custom made "Conca" which is a carved solid block of Carrara Marble.  This week I will take delivery of some Berkshire back fat from Fred Demartines in Stratford and follow the instructions on how to make the lardo in the time honoured way which dictates it should cure in the box for at least 6 months.  If you are curious about the simple process there is plenty of information on the web.  The best info however is in Italian.

I will describe the process in detail with pictures and notes

September ...