Bresaola: Home-curing for idiots.

Between making plans to live up a tree for 6 months (which you can follow on this here very blog and Twitter), I have been finishing up my city days playing about with a few preservation techniques that might come in handy in the woods, as lack of fridge/freezer will prove a problem.

As you may have guessed, Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall has proved himself a fine source of inspiration over the years; he may very well be the man responsible for many of my culinary adventures here and there. He is a good fellow and even let me into his kitchen once, in my drunken state, to help make crème brulees for all his other guests. Trusting to say the least…

Whilst thumbing through his very impressive meat book I came across a recipe for bresaola. On further reading I realised it would be a sin not to attempt this ludicrously simple method for dealing with a chunk of beef silverside. Not wishing to spend lots of money in case of a complete balls up, I went and bought a couple of joints from the mupersarket, a box of Maldon salt and a cheap bottle of Cote du Rhone. Here we go…

 

 

Bresaola originated in the Alps of Northern Italy, clever buggers them Italians! It looks like Carpaccio…but cured, it could be Parma ham, but its beef- confusion was certainly the driving force behind giving this one a go.

 

 

Despite Hugh having a fine looking recipe, it’s never your own unless you allow for a little tweaking, an exclusion of some ingredients and an addition of others. I added a few crushed juniper berries, a little Lea & P and two teaspoons of Cumin- not a lot but I felt it would make all the difference.

 

 

Ingredients:

 

3.5-4.5 joint of beef silverside.

 

The Marinade:

 

• 250g Coarse sea salt (Maldon flakes)
• 12 sprigs of Rosemary
• 2 tsp of Cumin
• 2 tsp of Lea & Perrins
• 10 crushed Juniper berries
• 10 Bay leaves
• 20 cloves
• 4 Garlic cloves (crushed)
• 1 tbsp of cracked black pepper
• 2 tsp of dried chilli flakes
• 6 strips of lemon zest (finely chopped)
• 1 bottle of Red wine (Cote Du Rhone or Italian) 

 

 

Mix up all the ingredients in a plastic Tupperware; make sure the joint or joints will fit in snugly.

Trim the beef of all fat and sinew and place it in the marinade coating them well.

 

Keep in the fridge or a cool place for 5 days, turning twice daily.

 

 

After 5 days soaking, remove the beef, which should have taken on a deep purple colour by now, rinse under a cold tap and pat dry with a tea towel.

 

 

Wrap the joint tightly in a double layer of muslin and truss up like the picture below.

 

 

Hang in a cool place (cellar or garage) for 10 days till the beef is hard to the touch. I told you it was easy.

 

 

The next stage can be a bit of a ball ache if you don’t have an electric meat slicer. Word of warning- don’t try to do it yourself at home with a sharp knife, fingers could be lost and you wont do your bresaola justice.

 

I took mine up to the Butcher & Grill at the top of the road and asked politely if they would be able to do it for me on theirs. Kindly they agreed: at a cost of £5, and told me to pop back at 8.30 that evening to pick it up.

 

 

Bare in mind that it was a Friday night, my friend Nick and I had been enjoying a few ales in the local pub eagerly waiting to sate our appetites with my latest gastro-creation. Come 9pm we stumbled over to the Butcher & Grill to pick up the goods.

 

 

“How did it turn out?” I said to the Butcher, trying not to give off the slightest slur.

 

“Rubbish.” He said. Then, whilst I stood there looking like I had just been mugged, he cracked a smile and said: “Amazing! It looks fantastic!”

 

 

What a joker…

 

 

He handed me a wrapped bundle from the fridge. “You realise you’ve got about 35 quid’s-worth of cured meat there.”

 

 

I did and it was all mine!

 

 

We picked up a loaf of olive ciabatta and a bottle of red and promptly returned home to gorge ourselves. Out came all my many jars of homemade pickled things and we sat down at the table to enjoy a cured meat and pickle fest- after all this is how the Italians do it don’t they?

 

 

The bresaola was amazing: wafer thin and virtually melted in the mouth. I did pick up on a minor error, it was, perhaps a touch too salty. My mistake became clear when I looked at the recipe and saw the weight of the meat, 3.5 to 4.5 Kg. I had used about 1.8kg! Overkill!

 

We had layer upon layer of the stuff, all beautifully laid out by the person who had laboriously cut it. A few days later I went up with the second bresaola (it was hardly going to last long). As I approached the women behind the counter with my muslin clad beef in hand and asked if I could have it cut, her face dropped like a sack of potatoes…I now had the answer to who had cut my last bresaola!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[The Curious Cat]

Wow - when I have some time on my hands I'll definitely give that a go! Thanks for talking us through it - it looks lush!!!

[Matt]

Tasty, tasty. I've had my eye on a lot of Hugh's curing recipes. Your Bresaola looks stunning, absolutely huge though! You've certainly made me glad it's lunchtime.

[Sofya]

A friend was just suggesting that I make this, after my major venison pastrami victory. Looks good!

[Nick Weston]

Sofya- Make the bresoala, You will not regret it! I must add dont use as much salt as is in the recipe, go for about half as much. Good Luck, let me know how it goes.

[Karl L]

Just stumbled across this website as a result of googleing Bresola, brilliant website Nick.
x

[Rick]

I've just enjoyed some terrific Bresaola with tomatoes, salad and parmigiano reggiano. It's always been my favourite starter in Italian restaurants, but always disappointed when I've tried it at home with shop-bought Bresaola. Home curing it was stupidly easy, and the results were absolutely *fantastic* ... not to say great fun. It's so easy to do, and so completely worth it that you're an idiot if you don't give it a go ;-) ...

Nick - first, as an avid reader of Thoreau I entirely salute you! ... and second: thanks for posting this, whilst I already had Hugh's book, your commentary and photos made the whole process a whole lot simpler and clearer.

[Simon Hodge]

maybe the lack of sugar in the recipe was part of the reason for over saltiness?

[Nick Weston]

true, it would have helped the balance, but i still feel there was too much salt!

W: www.huntergathercook.com
T: +44 (0) 7921 863768
E: [email protected]
TW:www.twitter.com/Nick_Weston

Hunter.Forager.Writer.Cook.

To: [email protected]

[Simon Hodge]

Have you a revised recipe?

[Betsy]

So, to be clear, you only used 1.8 kg of meat and it worked out? Some people say that a joint that small won't turn out. Ify ou managed to do it, it would be a much smaller investment for me for a first go. And I'll remember to cut the salt and other seasonings in half!

[Pat]

Just came across your site whilst looking for a sloe gin recipe.I just happened to be looking for Bresaola in Sainsburys and would you believe it,they didnt know what I was talking about! Thanks for that Nick, I'm def giving it a go.

[Marc]

I will give it a try tomorrow, this is the only recipe that made sense for me. I wil get back to you with the result.

[David]

Any idea if adding some saltpeter would help with preservation?

[Nick Weston]

Hi David,

Not really sure about adding salt peter- I like to try and keep it simple- by all means give it a go and let me know hoe you get on!

W: www.huntergathercook.com
T: +44 (0) 7921 863768
E: [email protected]
TW:www.twitter.com/Nick_Weston

Hunter.Forager.Writer.Cook.

To: [email protected]

[David]

Sure, I'll let you know... Might be a couple months before I settle down long enough to give it a go, but I'm pretty stoked

David

[jeff]

Well G'day yous guys. Jeff from Down-Under here.
This looks bloody bewdiful definately my next job to tackle. I've been making my own Pancetta - so close to making Bresaola that it's only the animal that's different.
I pack the marinated meat in a zip lock (that's a plastic bag for you Poms) bag and turn it every day. Gotta keep it in the fridge or it will smell like an abo's armpit.
have fun.
jeff

[best slicer]

Its awesome how much you could save pretty swiftly with even a low cost meat slicer

[read more how to make money online from home]

You can definitely see your enthusiasm within the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to mention how they believe. At all times follow your heart.