Charcuteria

Charcuterie

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Charcuterie
Charcuterie (pronounced /ʃɑrˌkuːtəˈriː, ʃɑrˈkuːtəri/; French: [ʃaʁkytʁi], from chair 'flesh' and cuit 'cooked') is the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork.[1] Charcuterie is part of the garde manger chef's repertoire. Originally intended as a way to preservemeats before the advent of refrigeration, they are prepared today for their flavors derived from the preservation processes.[2]

Charcuterie

History
The Romans may be the first to have regulated the trade of charcuterie as they wrote laws regulating the proper production of pork joints; it was the French though, who raised the skill to an art. In 15th century France, local guilds regulatedtradesmen in the food production industry in each city. The guilds that produced charcuterie were those of the charcutiers. The members of this guild produced a traditional range of cooked or salted and dried meats, which varied, sometimes distinctively, from region to region. The only "raw" meat the charcutiers were A modern charcuterie display allowed to sell was unrendered lard. The charcutierprepared numerous items including pâtés, rillettes, sausages, bacon, trotters, and head cheese (brawn). These preservation methods ensured that meats would have a longer shelf-life.[2]

Products created with forcemeats
Forcemeat is a mixture of ground, lean meat emulsified with fat. The emulsification can be accomplished by grinding, sieving, or pureeing the ingredients. The emulsification mayeither be smooth or coarse in texture, depending on the desired consistency of the final product. Forcemeats are used in the production of numerous items found in charcuterie. Proteins commonly used in the production of forcemeats include pork, fish (pike, trout, or salmon), seafood, game meats (venison, boar, or rabbit), poultry, game birds, veal, and pork livers. Pork fatback is often used for thefat portion of forcemeat as it has a somewhat neutral flavor.[3]

Charcuterie In American usage, there are four basic styles of forcemeat. Straight forcemeats are produced by progressively grinding equal parts pork and pork fat with a third dominant meat which can be pork or another meat. The proteins are cubed and then seasoned, cured, rested, ground and then placed into desired vessel.[3]Country-style forcemeats are a combination of pork, pork fat, often with the addition of pork liver and garnish ingredients. The finished product has a coarse texture.[3] The third style is gratin which has a portion of the main protein browned; the French term gratin connotes a "grated" product that is browned.[3] The final style is mousseline which are very light in texture utilizing lean cuts ofmeat usually from veal, poultry, fish, or shellfish. The resulting texture comes from the addition of eggs and cream to this forcemeat.[3]

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Sausage
Its name derived through French from the Latin sal, "salt", sausage-making is a technique that involves placing ground or chopped meats along with salt into a tube. The tubes can vary, but the more common animal-derived tubes include sheep,hog, or cattle intestinal linings. Additionally, animal stomachs and bladders, as well as inedible casings produced from collagen, plant cellulose or paper are used. Inedible casings are primarily used to shape, store, and age the sausage.[4] There are two main variants of sausage, fresh and cooked. Fresh sausages involve the production of raw meats placed into casings to be cooked at a later time,whereas cooked sausages are heated during production and are ready to eat at the end of production.[5] Emulsified sausage Emulsified sausages are cooked sausages with a very fine texture, using the combination of pork, beef, or poultry with fat, salt, nitrate, flavorings, and water. These items are emulsified at high speed in a food processor or blender. During this process the salt dissolves the...