Malcolm Gladwell talks about the '10,000 hour rule'. Now, I haven't actually read Gladwell. If his TED talks speak to anything, it's that reading one of his books might feel like 10,000 hours. Yet, the concept that after so many hours, one might really begin to understand and develop expertise in a particular field, intrigues me.
Not that I would claim expertise on the subject of meat curing. Nonetheless, every time I follow a charcuterie project to completion, I feel like I have a much better grasp on the subject.
Take this newest one. I decided to do my own take on a tuscan salami - "finocchiona". Toasted fennel seeds, black pepper and juniper provide the spice hit. I added red wine for colour, fruit, and acid. Lastly, I hand diced back fat from a Tamworth/Berkshire cross bred hog.
Charcuterie is on of those funny things where you don't know if you made the right choices until weeks down the road. This time, I feel like it was a real success. It hasn't been 10,000 hours, and I'm by no means an expert - but little by little, I'm chipping away.
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