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A Charcuterie Masterclass

Throughout last year, I have been hosting Master Butchery Courses, with more coming during 2011, in order to pass on the fascinating subjects that I deal with every day to the general public. This week we held a Charcuterie Master Class, where the pupils were taken through the world of pork butchery, starting with the whole side of pork, and taking it to its resultant products-sausages, home-cured dry cure bacon, and cooked pate to name just a few! The humble pig is a wealthy resource, that has always been valued, with a use being found for every last scrap. Sadly this happens all too little these days, so I like to show just how much it is possible to get out of one of these creatures.

For this most recent course I had 7 pupils-a perfect class size (the maximum we have in any one class is 8- this means I can help everyone individually). Once everyone had arrived and settled in, we started discussing the pig, aided by the whole side of pork (complete with head) hanging by the block- the perfect demonstration tool!!Movie A Dog’s Purpose (2017)

We went on to make our porky products- sausages from the belly and shoulder (it is essential to have the correct fat to lean ratio in sausages, and these cuts are naturally perfect!), pate from the pig’s liver, and bacon from the loin. In this hands on section of the class everyone gets to trim their own bacon, and make their sausages from scratch.

Once all the hard work was over with, and the pates cooked and cooling, we settled in with a glass of wine (or two…) to eat some delicious pork (roasted pig champ-the entire cheek, pork scratchings, spare ribs, and of course, freshly made sausages) and watch the sun set over the idyllic surroundings of Bolton Abbey, where the classes take place.

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