Tesa

Ah, pork.

More specifically: ah, pork belly. This cut of meat from the pig offers itself perfectly to curing whether it is bacon, pancetta, or, as in here, tesa. While bacon is often, though not always, smoked both pancetta and tesa are unsmoked pork belly. Tesa differs from pancetta in that it is not rolled up and remains flat during curing, which gives it its name which means "extended".

Ready for the refrigerator

Tesa is a salt cured pork belly. The purpose of curing any meat, whether it is fermented or salted, is to prevent it from spoiling, which was particularly useful before refrigeration. Here, salt is used as preservative that essentially enhances dehydration of the meat. Microorganisms love water and most need it to grow thus by speeding up dehydration one is preventing those microorganisms from taking over. Most cured meats also need nitrate in order to be correctly preserved, though. This often comes in the form of what is called "Insta Cure no. 1", which is a mixture of salt and sodium nitrate. It is an effective inhibitor of bacterial growth (including the infamous botulism), but also changes the flavor and color of the meat. Nitrate is converted by bacteria (not bad) in the meat to nitrite that can then react with myoglobin giving cured meat the distinct color we associate with it.

Curing is quite the precise process - requires an accurate scale

I followed the recipe in Paul Bertolli's "Cooking by Hand". The seasonings called for include red pepper flakes, juniper berries, allspice berries, black peppercorns, cloves, and nutmeg. Wine is used to help encourage the salt rub to enter the meat. I was excited when I found this recipe because you only needed a refrigerator that was at least below 40 degrees. Many cured meats require a precise temperature and humidity range for the fermentation and curing process, which calls for a specialty curing chamber or, if you're lucky, a basement with the right conditions. All I needed to do was rub the salt with the spices over the pork belly, sprinkle some wine on it, and leave it in the fridge for 7-14 days until the salt has penetrated to the center of the belly.

Serious nutmeg grating concentration

Tesa is great in all the applications that you usually associate with bacon and pancetta: building sauces, fried by itself, sandwiches, and lardons in salads.


We'll see how it turns out soon!

Methods in Preservation: Part II

Last time we looked at fermentation (brining) as a way of preserving pickles. However, there are two other methods that do not involve or rely on bacteria. These methods use vinegar and salt to preserve the pickle. However, acids such as lemon or lime juice can also be used in place of vinegar. Although using vinegar and salt as preservation methods it does not mean they are mutually exclusive since vinegared pickles often include salt either for drawing out the excess liquid from the vegetable or, like in cooking, as a flavor enhancer.

Vinegar as a preservative works in much the same way as the lactic acid produced by bacteria during fermentation. The acetic acid in the vinegar acts to kill harmful microorganisms and then keep others out. The percentage of the vinegar in the final solution is also important because a certain percentage is needed in order to achieve proper preservation.

For most pickles, either fermented or vinegared, heat needs to be applied to make the final product shelf stable (often to achieve a vacuum in the jar). This can either be done in a pressure canner, boiling water bath, or low temperature pasteurization.

Methods in Preservation: Part I

Fermentation: Friend or foe?

A basic component of fermented pickles (such as the classic Dill Pickle) is a brine. A brine consists of a mixture of salt and water (and sometimes sugar to speed up the fermentation process). The salt in the brine acts as a preserving agent to keep out harmful bacteria and draw moisture out of the vegetables. However, the salt ratio can not be too high since the "good" lactic acid producing bacteria will be killed. Dead lactic acid bacteria equals no fermentation of the sugars, which equals no pickles.

Typically in cooking the introduction of microorganisms, such as bacteria or yeast, is unwanted and leads to food spoilage (and some very sick individuals). However, much like in bread baking, fermentation in a much welcomed process when making brined pickles. This process is often much slower than using vinegar to pickle, but can be much simpler. What's easier than tossing a few vegetables, some spices, and a brine into a jar or crock and letting it ferment for 3-4 weeks? During this time period all you have to do is rely upon the lactic acid bacteria to convert the sugars in the cucumber (or other vegetable) to lactic acid. It is this naturally produced lactic acid that will help preserve the pickles and give it a delicious, unique flavor!

For those science-y (read: nerdy) types out there, here is what is occurring within the pickle brine:

The lactic acid bacteria are taking the carbohydrates (glucose) from the cucumber and sugar in the brine and converting it into CO2 and lactic acid in a mostly anaerobic process.

Further reading for those interested:

Fermentation Discussion

Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1929 for work on fermentation