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Adopt a Prosciutto

vengroff
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SushiCat

SushiCat

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Vengroff, great image - Dino taking over Safeco field - I love it! That would be a nice view when the roof is open!

Went to Salumi today for lunch, I'm a first timer as I live in Vancouver BC. We managed to hit Salumi at the perfect time for lunch - my taste buds happily tickled with a cured meat platter :wub: strangely I hadn't seen this post although I knew about the prosciutto adoptions before hand, and somehow didn't taste any prosciutto today :huh: Guess I'll save that for next trip ... hopefully by then Safeco field will be filled with hanging pig's legs!

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joeforte

joeforte

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Salumi has great sandwiches and they are nice much of the time but dont any of you guys think that maybe Mario's success has gotten to Armandino's head? Im from NYC and I still find him to be pretentious and exclusionary.

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vengroff

vengroff

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Salumi has great sandwiches and they are nice much of the time but dont any of you guys think that maybe Mario's success has gotten to Armandino's head? Im from NYC and I still find him to be pretentious and exclusionary.

I've always found the service at Salumi friendly and unpretentious, from Armandino right down to the newest guy on the sandwich line. The only thing exclusionary about the place is the table, which is almost always full.

I met Mario once, briefly, when I lived in NYC, and he seemed to be a similarly affable guy.

Chief Scientist / Amateur Cook

MadVal, Seattle, WA

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reesek

reesek

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Salumi has great sandwiches and they are nice much of the time but dont any of you guys think that maybe Mario's success has gotten to Armandino's head? Im from NYC and I still find him to be pretentious and exclusionary.

I've always found the service at Salumi friendly and unpretentious, from Armandino right down to the newest guy on the sandwich line. The only thing exclusionary about the place is the table, which is almost always full.

I met Mario once, briefly, when I lived in NYC, and he seemed to be a similarly affable guy.

me too - joe, maybe it's you.

from overheard in new york:

Kid #1: Paper beats rock. BAM! Your rock is blowed up!

Kid #2: "Bam" doesn't blow up, "bam" makes it spicy. Now I got a SPICY ROCK! You can't defeat that!

--6 Train

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ScorchedPalate

ScorchedPalate

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One of the most astounding things about Salumi is that everyone who works there has been a total pleasure all the times I have been there. Armandino sometimes gets grumpy at a given person (usually with good reason, from the times I have seen the entire scenario play out) but he'll turn around and be sweet as pie to the next person he sees.

I certainly can imagine if someone came in with a chip on their shoulder and a bad attitude, they might not be greeted with the full force of Italian warmth. The same can be said of certain online forums.

~A

Edited by ScorchedPalate (log)

Anita Crotty • travel writer & mexican-food addict • www.marriedwithdinner.com

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trillium

trillium

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It's been a while since my last post on this topic, but I've been regularly visiting the ham, and rubbing it down with olive oil.  It has begun to take on a deep mahogany color that is just beautiful.  Yesterday, Dino showed us how to use a traditional horse bone tool he brought back from Italy to probe the meat.  You push the sharp end into the meat and then pull it out and smell it to see how the curing process in going.  It looks like we have a few months to go, but things are definitely moving forward.

What temperature and humidity are you hanging at? I ask because I have one at the salt crust stage (ok, two, since hogs come with two hind legs) and the guy who taught me how to do it just hangs 'em up at room temp with their salt crust, no rubbing of oil or anything like that. If you rub them in oil I'm wondering if they need to be kept colder.

regards,

trillium

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  • 2 months later...
vengroff

vengroff

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My prosciutto is now ready. The biggest differences between it and the commercial versions I have tasted is that it is creamier and quite a bit less salty. I'll post some pics soon.

Chief Scientist / Amateur Cook

MadVal, Seattle, WA

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Really Nice!

Really Nice!

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I'll be going in to visit mine next week.

Gina says they stopped taking new people for the adoption program for a while because they don't have the space to store them while maintaining enough space for the sandwich side of things.

Drink!

I refuse to spend my life worrying about what I eat. There is no pleasure worth forgoing just for an extra three years in the geriatric ward. --John Mortimera

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vengroff

vengroff

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Here's the whole finished product. It went from 19.5lbs a year ago to just 13.5 when it was finished.

gallery_1327_67_26771.jpg

Of course the first thing you want to to when you get your hands on a prosciutto like that is take a few sample slices off it.

gallery_1327_67_60873.jpg

gallery_1327_67_42353.jpg

If the ham is properly clamped in a stand, its actually quite easy to get a paper thin slice. You just draw the knife slowly towards you through the meat, making sure that at all times you can see the blase through the slice as it comes off.

What's left behind on the inside has the deep rich look of fresh tuna.

gallery_1327_67_44129.jpg

gallery_1327_67_68513.jpg

It was a year in the making, but well worth the effort.

Chief Scientist / Amateur Cook

MadVal, Seattle, WA

Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code

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vengroff

vengroff

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Two questions come to mind: how long do you think it will last you?  And how will you store it in the meantime?

It won't last long. At some point soon I'm going to invite a bunch of friends over for an afternoon of bocci, prosciutto, melon, and much prosseco and wine.

In the mean time, I'm hanging it in a small wine cellar. Armandino recommends <60 degrees F, and <60% humidity, which is what I'm going to shoot for.

Chief Scientist / Amateur Cook

MadVal, Seattle, WA

Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code

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Andrew Fenton

Andrew Fenton

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Two questions come to mind: how long do you think it will last you?  And how will you store it in the meantime?

It won't last long. At some point soon I'm going to invite a bunch of friends over for an afternoon of bocci, prosciutto, melon, and much prosseco and wine.

Right on! You've got some lucky friends, dude.

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SeaGal

SeaGal

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Wow! That prosciutto is a thing of beauty.

Jan

Seattle, WA

"But there's tacos, Randy. You know how I feel about tacos. It's the only food shaped like a smile....A beef smile."

--Earl (Jason Lee), from "My Name is Earl", Episode: South of the Border Part Uno, Season 2

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  • 3 weeks later...
vengroff

vengroff

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I just spent two hours slicing about 2/3 of the meat. First you have to get through the outer skin layer, which is basically rawhide, and then trim the fat to the thinkness you prefer. I ended up taking off almost a pound of fat, which I will save for other uses. Once you reach the meat and get in a groove, though, the slices just come off one after the other.

gallery_1327_67_11150.jpg

The holder is a Spanish model purchased from a dealer in Montreal. The knife is a 10" Henkels Grafton slicer.

Edited by vengroff (log)

Chief Scientist / Amateur Cook

MadVal, Seattle, WA

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Jason Perlow

Jason Perlow

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So.... just how much Prosciutto did you consume in one sitting? Did you manage to save any?

Jason Perlow, Co-Founder eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters

Foodies who Review South Florida (Facebook) | offthebroiler.com - Food Blog (archived) | View my food photos on Instagram

Twittter: @jperlow | Mastodon @jperlow@journa.host

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vengroff

vengroff

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So.... just how much Prosciutto did you consume in one sitting? Did you manage to save any?

I've got about 3 lbs of meat and 2 lbs of bone left. It was 13.5 lbs before I started carving.

It gets tough to carve once the bulk of the meat is gone and you have to carefully work around the bone, but I think I'll manage.

-D

Chief Scientist / Amateur Cook

MadVal, Seattle, WA

Proud signatory to the eG Ethics code

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