Charcuterie 101 : Duck Ham

Charcuterie is the art of preparing and preserving meat. It includes all kinds of things (sausage, pâté, terrines, salamis, etc.) and techniques (brining, smoking, curing, aging, etc.). As such, it is probably my favorite branch of cooking.

This recipe is about the technique of curing, the use of salt (and other things) to preserve meat. In this case we are going to do a ham, but not just any ham – one made from duck breast. If you do this right, I guarantee a delicious end product. And this is very easy to do correctly ! It ends up being very like prosciutto.

Ingredients 

• One duck breast
• a box of coarse kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• cheesecloth
• twine

Take the duck breast, and remove the skin, if it is still on. Leave as much of the fat as you can. Pat the breast dry with paper towels.

In a dish which is large enough to hold the breast nicely, line the bottom of the dish with some of the kosher salt. Do NOT use fine grain salt. Set the duck breast on top of the salt and then pour more salt over the breast until it is completely covered. There should be no part of the breast exposed to air. Cover the dish and refrigerate for 24 hours, no more and no less.

After the 24 hours has passed, remove the breast from the salt. Rinse off any salt remaining on the breast (using fresh water) and pat it dry again with paper towels. You may note the breast is significantly firmer than it was before – this is what you are trying to achieve.Dust both sides of the breast with the white pepper. Wrap the breast in a couple of layers of cheesecloth (do not use too much – a couple of layers will do it), and secure the cheesecloth with the twine.

Now comes the part that freaks out most people. Hang the breast in a cool, dry place for 7 days. I use a spare closet – I am not kidding ! Do NOT refrigerate the breast. The ambient temperature should be about 60- 70 degrees, and the humidity should be kept low. I do not normally do this during an Atlanta summer, as it is extraordinarily difficult to keep the humidity low enough. After seven days, the breast should be ready ready to go. Remove it from the cheesecloth and feel it – it should be quite firm by now.

To serve, slice the breast on a diagonal into thin slices, as shown in the photo above. Any unused breast may be refrigerated and kept as long as you might keep any other cured meat, like salami.

It may take a leap of faith to keep a piece of meat,unrefrigerated, in your closet for a week, but trust me. People have been doing this for thousands of years, and you too, can benefit from the process of curing.