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The Wife® and I recently discovered a little Eastern European/Russian deli in town and we've been exploring their coolcase filled with all kinds of sausages and salamis. A repeat favorite is Karpatskaya and I've decided that I'd like to add it to my repertoire. My reference books are mute on this variety and I haven't had any luck online, either. Can anyone help?

I was working on the WikiGullet Project article on jagerwurst this afternoon and was unable to find any good information on it under that name: the only stuff in Wikipedia is called "Jadgwurst" but it sounds like the same thing. Does anyone know for sure if that is the case? Also, in the Ruhlman Charcuterie book it's a pork sausage, but the Wikipedia article seems to indicate it's beef and pork. Naturally, neither the WP article nor Ruhlman cite any sources for this info. Does anyone know anything about it? Have you ever made it? What are the seasonings you think exemplify it?

So this will be the first time I take on a project of this type. As a kid I did some butchering of hogs and beef, and I have plenty of experience processing and handling wild game. I've never dry cured anything, however, and would appreciate any help any more experienced folks might be able to give. I'm planning to use a slightly modified version of the pepperoni recipe at the following link. http://homecooking.about.com/od/porkrecipes/r/blpork85.htm I live in Missouri and right now it's nice and cold outside. I have a concrete basement and a dirt-floor crawl space. The basement is used for storage and laundry. The crawl space isn't used for anything, is about 4 feet tall, and about 100 square feet. I have a dehumidifier in the basement which I can regulate the humidity with. It stays at about 50% right now. Without the dehumidifier it hangs around 75%. The temp in the basement is in the high 40s/low 50s now. I expect it to get into the high 50s/low 60s by mid April, but no higher. My main question is whether either the basement or the crawl space would be a suitable location to hang these pepperonis for 2 months, and what, if anything, I might want to do to make sure this first attempt goes well. Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for any advice. Neil

I'd like to try my hand at making lomo. Does anyone here have suggestions for seasoning percentages or quantities? From what I have seen online, garlic and smoked paprika are common seasonings, but is there anything else I should be considering?

I've just had a great lunch featuring poached Lyon sausage on a bed of lentils (Hélène Darroze at the Connaught, London). So now I'd like to make some Lyon sausage AKA Saucisse de Lyon. This is a fresh sausage for cooking, not the Jesus de Lyon salami style product. Sometimes it has pistachio nuts in it. I can't find a recipe: can anyone help? I've tried all the usual sources including sausagemaking.org & Len Poli's site plus internet searches. I believe the sausage contains pork, wine & seasoning but beyond that I have no idea. The one I ate was about 50mm dia so I'd need some large casings: suggestions please. Thanks.

I had dinner last night at a restaurant whose charcuterie plate had, among other selections, something they just called "spiced orange": it was a relatively homogeneous pork salume with little visible fat, and a really interesting herbal note to it. Is anyone aware of a precedent for this type of salami, and does anyone have a recipe for something that might fit this description?

Hello All: I was recently appointed my family's sausage maker. My family had a good deer hunt this year and so there are seven deer to process this weekend. The shoulder and older deer will be made into sausage. We will probably make about 150 lbs. of venison sausage. However, due to religious reasons, pork cannot be used in the sausages. As of right now, I intend to use beef fat in lieu of pork fat. Does anyone have any suggestions how to make a tasty, juicy venison-beef sausage? I will probably add more liquid than usual and if I make any smoked sausages, I will add a good amount of powdered milk. Is there anything else I can do to make a good sausage? Lastly, any good recipes? I made the smoked venison sausage recipe in Charcuterie and will try the recipe again this weekend with beef fat. Thank you in advance! David

I want to make peameal bacon and have it for Christmas. It seems possible but there is no definitive recipe on the net and I'd love a little coaching from someone who has done it. Horrors - some recipes call for smoking - those people obviously don't know what they are talking about. I can get something called Morton's Tenderquick - is this going to give me the right texture? This expat thanks all who might help.

I bought a whole Mennonite elk summer sausage at the farmer's market. A vendor from a semi-local elk farm always has a booth at the market and I buy a lot of meat from them (She's bringing me some elk bones for the next market to use for stock, she always has smoked bones but the stock from them was too smoky so I asked her if I could get some unsmoked as well.). I usually buy a couple packs of the pre-sliced sausage to munch on because it's really tasty but this time I decided to grab a whole one. I've never dealt with one of these before. After I peel the cloth bag off, is there anything else to peel or do I just wash it off (or not?) and munch? I cut a piece off and peeled it because it's kinda fuzzy looking once you remove the bag (not mold) but that seems to lead to a bit of waste so I won't peel it if it's not necessary.

Still bothered from last night. I am writing to you all for your opinion. Was at a very popular BBQ place in Brooklyn (will leave nameless for now) that sells meat by the pound. In addition to my brisket and pork belly order, I ordered a 1/2 pound of raw house-cured bacon. I have ordered this before and loved, loved, loved it. On my last order of the bacon, they sliced the meat long and thick, ala Peter Luger's (fried up, it was unreal). Now this time, the BBQ slicer/counter guy called the back of the house guy and summoned the bacon. It weighed 1lb so he cut the rectangle in half, making 2 squares, one of which was supposed to be mine. Well, who orders a 4"x5" block of raw BACON that when sliced up and cooked would be nothing more than niblets. Still wanting the goodness I acquiesced and watched as he began to wrap the block unsliced. I said "Bud, could you slice that?" He said "NO" straight out. I was like WTF, are you F-ing kidding me? The bacon sells for $10.50 a pound, which to me is a price that warrants slicing if I so choose. My favorite butcher, Fiacco's in Brooklyn, charges $5.99 a pound and we all know the Oscar Meyer stuff is $3-$5 a pound. Back to the counter guy, so after he said "NO" he said "Why, you can't slice it yourself," to which I replied "No, for the price I would like it sliced." He said, "Can't do it." I said, "Don't want it." I ate my cue, which was amazing, but was bothered by the attitude and still am. Shouldn't the paying customer have a legitimate say? Am I way off here people? What's up with these BROOKLYNY HIPSTER attitudes? FYI: I will attempt a bacon purchase again and will preface my wants and needs. Sad I didn't have it this AM when I woke up.

Hi all Any recommendations for places to get absolutely superlative charcuterie in London, or the UK? Either home-made or imported. I already know of Brindisa (Exmouth Market) for Spanish ham and I believe the Ginger Pig also do charcuterie (Borough Market / Marylebone). Outside of London I know of Trealy Farm. There's also a great producer somewhere in Shropshire but the name has eluded me. Any other suggestions? Cheers

Hi all, I'm new to Austin. I think tomorrow I'm going to drive out to Elgin to try the sausage. Do you guys know of any places that sell packaged sausage that will survive a 5 hour flight? Thanks.

I brought back lots of professionally made whole salami, coppa, bresaola etc. from Italy. The idea was to cut them as needed on my meat slicer and enjoy piles of fresh charcuterie. However I find cleaning the meat slicer each time a real pain so I've gone ahead and sliced everything into the appropriate cuts. I've then packed the meats into separate vacuum bags. Each one weighs about 200g. The salamis were about 3 months opened at the point where I sliced them, and in good condition. I was wondering what people thought would be the best way to store them? I was thinking of freezing them in the vacuum bags but wasn't sure how well they would freeze. Anyone have any practical experience or tips?

I am a relative newcomer to merguez sausage and have become very fond of it. So fond of it, I would like to make my own. Does anyone have a tried & true recipe for this? I don't think I would have any trouble finding ingredients as we have a large number of ethnic stores in this city. Thank you.

I still remember the porchetta sandwiches I had in Rome almost 25 years ago, a small shop with 4 tables, small glasses of red wine and paper cones with olives. The entire pg would come out of the oven, each pannini had meat and skin along with some fat, just great food I've always wanted to try this at home and the time has finally come. I'm going to do it for my girlfriends birthday. I have done the requisite searches online and come up with mostly variations involving a boned pork shoulder. One looks very good, it comes from Jamie Oliver, at least the photo looks like the real thing. What I'd really like to do is a small whole pig, just for the presentation value alone. I imagine I could do it with a 18-20lb pig, I have the skills to bone it. Would love to hear any comments, ideas, warnings, etc. before proceeding. thanks, Rob

FYI - for all those in the Chicago area interested in whole-animal cooking or charcuterie, Mado Restaurant in Wicker Park has a series of demonstrations: hog butchering, pate/terrines, sausage making and headcheese. I went to the butchering class and came out with a much better understanding of how the animal fits together - and how to make porchetta! Worth a look. Cheers, Ian

I saw this link today to an article at npr.org on how chocolate and bacon are making more appearances than ever. Anyone ever tried things like this? I dipped some bacon in dark chocolate a week or so ago after having a number of people ask me about it. I have to say, it wasn't terrible, but not my favorite result. Comments?

I started curing some lamb belly but its awful thin. Can I roll it or something? I wanted to try lamb bacon but it seems too thin to slice. (Since I got it from the local Islamic market, it came skinless.) Anyone have an idea? Thanks Kevin

I was wondering if anyone could help me out with a recipe for this. I live in central Wisconsin and a friend came back with a grab bag of wonderful sausage from Louisiana, (excellent boudin, garlic sausage, etc.) The most amazing thing she brought back was fresh Green Onion sausage from Rouses Grocery store. I have to say I fell in love with it immediately. Everyone I shared it with loved it as well. I make my own sausage so I have the tools and techniques to make it. The seasonings seemed basic, but I would like to try to get some direction, before trying to create my own and end up messing things up. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I bought a bunch of natural sausage casings packed in water this weekend. Despite the best intentions, I didn't get around to using them. Any suggestions on preserving them for later use? Salt? Freezing? Thanks.

I recently bought a Fra'Mani salametto, and was disappointed by it. The main flavor is salt; there's some garlic there too, but it's mostly salt with a pork aftertaste. It's not awful, but it's not something I want to eat on its own, or even in a sandwich (except maybe one in which it plays a supporting role, like a muffaletta.) Still, at $18 a pound, I want to use it up. So I'm looking for recipes that incorporate salami, in which the salami is balanced by other ingredients. How do you cook with salami?

My battles with green mold are well documented here. For example, I present a few sticks of particularly memorable sopressata: Following the advice of basically every book ever published in English on the subject, in which green mold = deadly, horrible failure, I tossed them out. There are a few exceptions out there; members here mention washing it off and rehanging it, but only at the early stages. Shortly after that disappointment, I went to Barcelona, where I had this experience: Still no answers. Fast forward to August 2009. Chris Hennes and I are hitting the outer boroughs in search of good food, and we arrive here. The justly famous Calabria Pork Store, on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx. The place is the holy shrine of cured pork on the east coast, and it smells hog heavenly. Hundreds of sausages, sides of pork, hams, you name it are hanging overhead. However, when you walk a bit closer to the product, you see this: These sausages weren't speckled with green mold; they didn't have a bit here and there. Most of the product in room was coated 40-50% with fuzzy, green to blue mold. Our jaws dropped. We asked the counter person three or four different times what the story was, and he looked at us like we were nuts. We got the sort of reaction you'd get if you tried to ask a crab on the ocean floor why it was so humid around here. Meanwhile, Hennes and I ate about as much of the free sample plate as we could eat without being arrested. The stuff is fantastic: funky, rich, deep flavor that only the best cured pork gets. And we're not dead. Something, clearly, is going on, and I'm hellbent on getting to the bottom of it. Here are my questions: 1. What, exactly, is this "fuzzy green mold"? What distinguishes "fuzzy green mold" from "chalky white mold"? 2. What effects do these molds have? How do you determine which effects are detrimental, beneficial, or both? 3. If, as all the books indicate, this "fuzzy green mold" is so terrible for you, why in the world is a premier salumeria displaying it overhead for all the world to see? For starters, does anyone have any access to actual facts?

A friend posed a question on summer sausage. He said his jalapeno summer sausage did not hold its shape well, and he used fresh jalapenos. I think using pickled jalapenos would be a better solution. Any advice would be great; thanks.

Today, The Minimalist column by Mark Bittman extols the joys of homemade flavor-infused oils, without regard to the food safety issues inherent in taking foods known to carry C botulinum spores and placing them in the low-acid, anaerobic environments in which they thrive. Do they not have fact-checkers or nutritionists or someone check these articles? This is a basic issue covered in the ServSafe exam, and in health code requirements in most US states. HERE is a link to more detailed info, written by scientists.

I couldn't find a topic dedicated to lamb bacon in a quick search, so here goes . . . I ordered two lamb breasts from one of my Reading Terminal Market butchers in Philadelphia, and for less than $16 got two breasts with the bones removed (reserved for scotch broth or grilled riblets for nibbling - there's still a little meat left). I followed the simple recipe from Mark Bittman's blog (contributed by Danny Meyer, from a recipe from his colleague Brian Mayer; you can find it here). It's two cups salt, one cup sugar, coat the meat, wrap and let it sit in the fridge for 2-4 days until firm. (Mine took four.) Then roast at 250F until you hit internal temp of 140F. I failed to correct for my inaccurate oven, so I overcooked a bit and didn't pull the breasts until they hit 180F. But they were still delicious. Here are the before and after cooking photos: