Newspapers / The Transylvania Times (Brevard, … / Dec. 16, 1974, edition 1 / Page 11
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PRIZE-WINNING COLUMN ALMAR FARMl r In Transylvania L BY CAL CARPENTER I N •••••••••••••••••••••••• M This is the hog-killing season. Anywhere from Thanksgiving until the end of December is the best time if you plan to country-cure the meat. It’s therefore a good time for a couple of columns on that subject. First I should say that anytime is hog-killing time if you don’t plan to do country curing. Modern meat processing plants, with their efficient coolers and freezers have taken the season out of this old-time happening. And the same is true with beef lulling. ! But there was a time, before the advent of local packing 'houses and home freezers, when meat slaughtering was a cold season thing because ;most meat preserving processes had to begin in cold ^weather. i There are many ways of preserving meat other than the modem one, all developed out of necessity over the years. Beef (and bear meat, venison, and mutton) can just simply be hung up and cured after a fashion — if the weather is right when it is first killed and stays right for a few weeks. Right means that it is cold enough to immediately chill out the animal heat and stays cold enough so that the temperature at the bone in a piece of meat does not remain for any length of time above 45 degrees Fahrenheit. This process allows a natural preservation, par ticularly in beef, that produces steaks and roasts hard to beat, but it is good only through the winter months. For, with the coming of warm weather, there is a heavy spoilage on the outside of the meat, necessitating a lot of trimming before eating and heavy waste. With the coming j? of hot weather, any remaining beef is a total loss because of ‘ souring from the bone out, for the meat is never truly hot ' weather preserved in this i method. f There is also the “jerky” ^process for beef and wild (meats. This consists of thin stripping the lean meat and smoke drying, a process , similar to the sun-drying f technique our plains Indians * had been using for hundreds of s years when the white man J first came. There is also * “coming”, or the process of | packing meat in salt brine. | This method of preservation is I old too; it once provided the I only meat available on long | sailing ship voyages. | But the meat curing done in i this area today is largely salt I curing, or country-curing | pork. The process is also | called sugar curing. I’ve done Fa goodly amount of this at | ALMAR Farm and I’ve ; learned a lot by talking to older-timers and reading state and federal government pork curing booklets. I’ve come up with a process that completely suits me. I’ve written my country ham (and shoulder too, of course) curing process in these columns and in my 1969 book, “The Best From ALMAR Farm in Western North Carolina.” I shall give it again later in this column for those who don’t have a copy available and maybe want to beat the high price of meat nowadays and at the same time enjoy a real taste treat, by curing their own country ham. For actually, you don’t have to live on a farm to do this. Fresh-killed hams and shoulders can be bought at packing houses. All the rest you need is an unheated room and a little knowhow. As I noted in the first write up some years back, everyone who has experience in country-curing hams has his own process and every process I ran across was different. I spent considerable time rationalizing the many processes I heard and the government-recommended cures into the one I use. I don’t urge my process on anyone who has experience and is satisfied with his results. As the old saying goes, “all roads lead to Rome,” so there are no doubt other ways. I would note, however, that there are four traditional requirements for good country-cured hams. My process meets these and any that does not is depriving someone of an old-fashioned taste experience unique among foods. The requirement: One, it is not salty. This is the major fault of most com mercially-cured hams I’ve tried. They’re usually cured too hurriedly and the only way to do that and avoid a too-high risk of spoilage is to use heavy amounts of salt. This is done either by in jecting the salt solution into the veins with hypodermic needles or actually packing the hams in salt brine. They may be smoked later, but in my opinion this is about as far from real country-cured ham as you can get. These should not be sold under that name — they ought to be properly labeled as “corned ham,” or “corned smoked ham.” Two, it is tender and has a distinctive, faintly sweetish taste. It should be kept in mind that curing meat is what might be called a controlled putrefaction process. The meat changes toward decomposition but in a way that is desirable rather than the usually undesirable. In good country ham the slow process results in a tenderness — not the leather toughness associated with “corned” meat; and produces the faintly sweet flavor. It has a special tatse in a class all by itself, and once tried will never be confused with “corned” ham again. Three, it has a powerful, penetrating smell. One piece of frying country ham in the morning will arouse a household with appetites honed like nothing else can do. It smells something like it tastes, faintly sweetish (if there’s such a thing as a sweetish smell.) Four, it produces a faintly iridescent grease that is the unique ingredient, of “Red eye” gravy. The surface of the ham, hot in a pan, shows a greenish iridescence. The grease from this properly mixed with water, will have one or more round, reddish spots lute big red eyes looking up from the bowl — thus “Red eye” gravy. Coffee can be used instead of water in making the produce (my own coinage) “Brown eye” gravy. ! (To Be Continued) after you see your doctor. bring your prescription to There’s A Place Where Customer Satisfaction Still Counts. SOfl*S of iirevand To us at Patterson’s, our reputation is our most prized possession. Like any fine store our name carries with it a time tested assurance of quality and satisfaction. And that’s as it should be. If you are not familiar with our store or just haven’t visited us lately, now might be a good time to get acquainted, or reacquainted. First of all, we will do our best to help you select the right gift. But if for any reason whatever it doesn’t turn out right, you can feel comfortable in the knowledge, that Patterson’s will make it right, promptly and pleasantly. Next, you will not be put in the position of having to ask for a free gift wrap. Our sales people are instructed to ask you, and we take pride in doing a very attractive job of it. We also wrap for mailing and we will mail your packages for you if you so desire. Another service we offer is free expert alternation on any apparel purchased here at our regular price. If these services appeal to you we invite you to open a Patterson’s Charge Account. Our Charge Accounts carry no service or interest charges and the terms are liberal. We also honor Master Charge and Bank Americard credit cards — And attractive gift certificates are also available. > V ) Come in and give us a try. We think you will be glad you did. cr Merry Christmas Shopping At Patterson's And (If Necessary) Many Happy Return: m
The Transylvania Times (Brevard, N.C.)
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Dec. 16, 1974, edition 1
11
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