Adventures in Meatiness

Charcuterie:

the branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, galantines, pâtés, and confit, primarily from pork. Charcuterie is part of the garde manger chef's repertoire. Originally intended as a way to preserve meats before the advent of refrigeration, they are prepared today for their flavors derived from the preservation processes. (from wikipedia)

Charcuterie is an obscure and in many ways obsolete food preparation craft involving the butchering, curing and aging of piggy goodness. This practice also happens to be the most recent exit I've taken on the superhighway of Flavor.  The more I read and learn about the craft, the more intrigued I become!  The symphony of salt, meat, fat and smoke is, in my opinion, one of the highest forms of food craft around.

That brings me to my latest endeavour:

 

Home made sausage!!  My first try was a venison/ wild boar breakfast sausage with garlic, ginger and fresh sage.  I also made an Italian sausage of the same wild boar meat.  Admittedly, I did use some fatback from Allen Harrison of Harrison Hog Farms (they're at all the local farmers' markets!), but overall they were all hewn from animals shot this deer season.  As I didn't have a stuffer, they were both "loose" sausage that I cryo-vac'd.  They should be outta sight!!