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Friday Jean Guillaume and I drove out to Lodi; ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
ken_albala was teaching a salame-making class at a local cheese shop. The drive was relatively uneventful and we arrived in time to have a beer at the local brewpub. The cheese shop has only been open seven months; I wish them well but I wonder how much demand there is in downtown Lodi for gourmet cheese. That's part of why she's hosting classes, of course.
Ken is an engaging speaker with a lot of knowledge and passion for historic food. There were a dozen of us sitting around sipping local wine while he gave us background. Then we started in; the owner had told us only that morning that we needed to bring cutting boards and knives, so it was a good thing I was working from home that day. I was the only one with a thick wooden board, amusingly enough. Hand chopping meat on a thin plastic board doesn't work as well because it bounces.
We each chopped about a pound of meat, then added in salt, sugar, curing salt, and various other spices (I used pepper and fennel). Then we hand-stuffed into casings, no funnel required. That was interesting although I think a funnel is easier and quicker. The shop owner provided dinner, and eventually we made the long drive home. Saturday I hung my salame up to cure and we'll see how it is in a couple months.
It was lots of fun. While I didn't learn a huge amount, it was inspiring for both of us. I still prefer measuring and weighing ingredients to Ken's "Throw a pinch on" method. I brought one of my Bologna sausages, which people enjoyed -- although after a few e-mails back and forth from Ken I found out that the translation I was using for the recipe was flawed. Oh well, it's still a good sausage as it is.
( The final result? )
What I'm reading: Lev Grossman, The Magician King
ken_albala was teaching a salame-making class at a local cheese shop. The drive was relatively uneventful and we arrived in time to have a beer at the local brewpub. The cheese shop has only been open seven months; I wish them well but I wonder how much demand there is in downtown Lodi for gourmet cheese. That's part of why she's hosting classes, of course.Ken is an engaging speaker with a lot of knowledge and passion for historic food. There were a dozen of us sitting around sipping local wine while he gave us background. Then we started in; the owner had told us only that morning that we needed to bring cutting boards and knives, so it was a good thing I was working from home that day. I was the only one with a thick wooden board, amusingly enough. Hand chopping meat on a thin plastic board doesn't work as well because it bounces.
We each chopped about a pound of meat, then added in salt, sugar, curing salt, and various other spices (I used pepper and fennel). Then we hand-stuffed into casings, no funnel required. That was interesting although I think a funnel is easier and quicker. The shop owner provided dinner, and eventually we made the long drive home. Saturday I hung my salame up to cure and we'll see how it is in a couple months.
It was lots of fun. While I didn't learn a huge amount, it was inspiring for both of us. I still prefer measuring and weighing ingredients to Ken's "Throw a pinch on" method. I brought one of my Bologna sausages, which people enjoyed -- although after a few e-mails back and forth from Ken I found out that the translation I was using for the recipe was flawed. Oh well, it's still a good sausage as it is.
( The final result? )
What I'm reading: Lev Grossman, The Magician King
