Not all people are clearly defined in terms when it comes to products close to fat. It is all the more difficult to solve a question that is quite far from our realities: salted, smoked, cured bacon - what kind of cuisine, and is there such a product in adjacent stores. Given the moment that now many bacon recipes are required, it is worthwhile to figure out what it is and how to use it.
Dispel misconceptions
When buying cured bacon, no matter what kind of cuisine it was “invented”, it must be understood that this was by no means fat. Not every pig, and not all of its parts, is suitable for him. Animals are selected with a long back and fast growing. At the same time, the diet of pigs intended for bacon is also very important. They are by no means fed with slop and waste - only beans, barley, millet, vetch; root crops are chopped, pigs are soldered back, and even milk. As a result of such expensive investments, it turns out, rather, not fat, but meat with its layers. When slaughtered, only the side of the pig goes to the bacon. The product is primarily salted. After it can be dried or smoked.
Sun-dried bacon - which cuisine?
In fact, the name of the product is of Celtic origin. That is, the historical homeland of bacon was the land of Wales, Ireland, Cornwall and Scotland. In the written sources of these parts, it was first mentioned in the 14th century. The British still love, produce and willingly eat Celtic bacon, although today the country of its greatest distribution is still, probably, the States.
Controversial issues
However, not everything is so simple with a delicacy named cured bacon. What cuisine claims authorship besides Celtic? For example, Canadian. In it, only the lumbar part of the pig goes to the bacon, and the ham must also be lean. So Canadian bacon is significantly more expensive than regular bacon.
Italians can consider themselves “parents” of bacon. Their version is called pancetta and differs from the Celtic modification in the abundance of herbs and spices.
Salty, Celtic, home-smoked
You can cook bacon at home. The recipe, in principle, is simple. True, you are unlikely to find real "bacon" pork. It can be replaced with a spatula or ham, the structure of which is closest to the original. Preparing a brine of three liters of water, a liter of beer, 400 grams of sugar (still try to find brown), 600 - coarse salt and 50 - sodium nitrate. As spices, 10 crushed peas of pepper, the same amount of mashed juniper berries and a bay leaf are taken. This amount of liquid is enough for 10 pounds of large pieces of meat. Pork is immersed in brine and placed on the bottom of the refrigerator for four days. Then for two weeks the bacon is suspended in a cool room, best at the same temperature (about 4 degrees). Celtic bacon is ready. To improve the taste and quality, it can withstand up to a year.
Vyalim in Italian
As already mentioned, not only the Celts invented bacon. A cooking recipe invented in Italy consists of several stages. The first step is to pour a pound of coarse salt into a wide container and lay on it 2 and a half kilograms of pork (do not cut!). The bowl is wrapped in foil and placed in the refrigerator for three days. After the indicated time, the pork is washed well in running water and a brine is prepared: pour a spoonful of salt into a liter of apple cider vinegar, a teaspoon of ground red and black pepper, a chopped sprig of rosemary and four crushed garlic cloves. In this brine for several minutes, thoroughly rinse the meat, then roll it in a peculiar breading of 100 g of salt, a handful of fennel and a tablespoon of both types of pepper - red and black. The entire surface should be covered with this mixture. Future bacon is tightly packed in parchment and tied with twine in the form of a ball. Since pork will give off fat, on top of the parcel is wrapped also with a cloth or paper towels - for absorption. After a month spent under the freezer, when the bacon becomes elastic, the wrapper is changed to clean, and the meat itself can be eaten.
If there is a smokehouse
Unfortunately, smoked bacon cannot be cooked without it. But if you have it or you are “borrowed” by a friend or relative, you can make an amazing treat. Some preparations will be required, in particular, the so-called pink salt needs to be cooked up. For it, iodized salt is mixed with sugar, ground pepper (all kinds, which you will find) and pulp from Bulgarian red pepper, onion, garlic and basil. Proportions - at your discretion. Just don’t do such a lot of salt - a teaspoon is enough for two and a quarter kilos of brisket. To it are added one and a half tablespoons of brown sugar, the same amount of ordinary salt and a stack of maple syrup. This mass is rubbed with meat, placed in a small saucepan with the skin down and put in the refrigerator for a week. Turn over and mix daily. Then the brisket is washed, dried, placed on a wire rack and returned to the refrigerator for half a day. Since it will drip from the meat, an oven sheet is placed under it. Now cooking the bacon goes into the final phase. It is placed in a smokehouse heated to 95 degrees for three hours. It remains to cut the skin and wrap it in a film until it is consumed.