Charcutepalooza is a yearlong project I’m participating in to make recipes from Michael Ruhlman’s Charcuterie: The Craft of Salting, Smoking, and Curing. For more information, see my introductory post.
“Charcuterie” is a scary-sounding word to a home cook. It sounds, well, French, and that means fussy and difficult and time-consuming. It was wise, then, of Charcutepalooza creator Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Kitchen to choose duck prosciutto as the first project.
Duck prosciutto is stupidly easy to make. I am not kidding. It has two ingredients. Stupidly easy.
Here’s what you do: Buy duck breasts. Cover them in salt. Refrigerate for 24 hours. Rinse them off. Wrap them in cheesecloth. Hang them up for a week.
What you get is a deep-red, salty, meaty cured product with a delicious layer of unctuous fat. It’s indistinguishable in flavor from real ham prosciutto (though I guess the slices are a bit smaller), thanks to the magical properties of duck—it’s all dark meat and it’s got a thick layer of fat.
I did make a couple additions to fancify my prosciutto. I ground up some bay leaves and juniper berries and mixed them in with the salt, which subtly perfumed the meat with their scent. I also coated the breasts with ground pepper before hanging them up; that didn’t really make much difference to the final product, and I don’t think it’s necessary.
So what do you do with duck prosciutto? Start by slicing it as thinly as you possibly can (stick it in the fridge for an hour or so to make this easier). Eat it plain, or drizzled with olive oil and balsamic, or wrap it around fresh figs or melon slices.
If you want to cook it, do so quickly and for a very short time. A crisped slice of prosciutto makes a nice topping for a fried-egg sandwich.
I do have one problem with this recipe: It comes out a bit salty. Is there any way to keep the saltiness in control when you make the stuff by literally burying it in salt? (Ruhlman, if you’re reading this, leave a comment!)
March’s Charcutepalooza challenge is brining, and that means I’m making corned beef. I love nothing more than a great Jewish-deli corned beef sandwich. If my version can live up to my hopes, I may be eating nothing else for at least a couple weeks.
Looks like the duck is a little “wet” and not fully cured. That’s why it might be so salty. How was the humidity where you hung the meat? It should be a relatively cool/dry place. I’m thinking that a week is a short time in a place like Birmingham, AL.
Hmm…interesting. It’s definitely dry and firm like it should be. I hung it in a walk-in closet that doesn’t have a heating vent and kept the door closed, so the temp would have been in the mid 60s I’d guess. On the high end, but not bad. Not sure about humidity, but since it’s the winter and I have my heat running, I’m sure it’s less than the 50-60% that Ruhlman recommends. On the other hand, I hung my pancetta in the same closet under the same conditions and it turned out great.
Not sure then. Sounds like you did what you were supposed to. Photo is beautiful, but a little deceiving. I’m curious about the salt problem. It should be salty, but not as salty as you describe. I think I’ll start the process this week and see what happens. Great stuff.
Thanks! Good luck with yours. Are you a fellow Charcutepalooza-teer?
I had no idea it was so easy to do this! Thanks for sharing 😀
Loved your black eyed pea recipe too!