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MALE SPEAKER: OK.
So welcome today to "Chefs at Google."
We have my pleasure to present Taylor Boetticher and Ryan
Harris from The Fatted Calf in Napa and San Francisco.
And they're going to do a Cuban sandwich for you guys today,
and then a little demo on the butchering of this half a hog
we have over here.
And then we'll have a little Q&A after it's over.
So please, stick around.
Have a little bite to eat, and enjoy yourselves.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Hello.
Thank you so much for coming.
We really appreciate it.
Yeah, we are from The Fatted Calf Charcuterie,
and we always like to start our demos with a little snack,
because who doesn't like snacks?
So one of the recipes that I'm going to demo today
is the Cuban, which is one of our takes on a classic Northern
Italian porchetta.
It's the recipe that's on the cover the book.
It looks like just about everybody has a copy.
The Cuban-- hi.
This is a riff on traditional Northern Italian porchetta,
like I said.
It's seasoned with cumin instead of fennel.
It's got orange zest instead of lemon zest.
It also some smoked paprika, a little bit of Allspice,
garlic, and some chopped oregano too.
So the sandwiches that we're making for you,
they have a little bit of the Cuban roast
that we've already smoked and then sliced.
And we've got some ham on there too, some bread and butter
pickles, and some red onion, as well as a little aioli.
So we'll be finishing those up, and we're
going to pass those around.
And then I'm going to demo the different cuts that we usually
take from a half a hog.
This one came from the Stone Valley
Ranch, which is up by Chico.
It's one of three or four farms the we will work with
to get our pork from.
Very tasty stuff.
It's certified organic Berkshire.
We're going to talk about different ways to cut pork.
Depending on what your final desired outcome is,
I will talk a little bit about husbandry.
We'll talk about seasoning.
Good, basic cutting techniques.
Things like that.
And of course, we'll answer any questions you have as well.
Again, so thank you for coming.
And I hope you all still have room for a little sandwich.
You like?
Oh, good.
Our pleasure.
Of course, thanks for having us.
AUDIENCE: Did you guys make the pickle?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah.
We made the pickles.
Everything that's on there except for the buns.
Jason took care of the buns.
AUDIENCE: Do you sell pickles in the shop?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: We do.
Yeah, absolutely.
Thank you.
No, that's fine.
Great.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Well, something that's seemingly so simple
can be a thing of beauty.
It all comes down to the little attention
to detail that makes a difference between good meat,
beer, wine, cheese, programming, whatever.
OK.
So now, onto the guest of honor.
This is the left half of an organic Berkshire hog,
like I said, from the Stone Valley Farm up by Chico.
And there are many, many different great things
you can get off of a whole half hog.
If you're going to take on something like this at home,
I highly recommend getting some friends.
Getting a good work table.
Making sure you've got all your gear.
What we deem pretty crucial to cutting pretty much anything,
whether it's lamb, or beef, or pork,
you're going to want a good, decent boning knife.
Usually, I don't advocate spending more than $30
on a boning knife.
Because we're pretty *** them.
We're going to be working right next to bone, hitting
on the steel pretty frequently.
And then, you want something also
that isn't so thick that it won't take and hold
a really good edge.
So I usually use Victorinox or Forschner.
Whatever's comfortable for you.
I also don't like boning knives for this kind of job
that are too flexible, because they can slip,
and you don't want that.
So beyond the boning knife, a good Ali-Baba-like cimeter.
Something good and long that you can really
get through really long cuts with.
And then a bone saw.
Those are really the only tools you really need.
So I'm just going to lay out exactly what cut
comes from where.
And then I'm going to show you a few basic boning techniques
and talk about different cuts.
Different ways of cutting.
The way that we cut pork in this country
is very different than the way they cut it in France,
the way that they cut it in Italy,
the way they cut it in Mexico, China, everywhere else.
But I'm going to be demoing, pretty
much, it's a very traditional Italian way.
We're going to take the hind leg off.
Show you how to cut that for prosciutto, which is, again,
pretty traditional Italian.
Hi.
Great cut.
We're going to take the shoulder off also.
I'm just going to show you a few different ways you can cut that
into roast.
There's also some different chops
you can take out of the shoulder, which are really nice
also.
One of our more popular cuts we do at The Fatted Calf
is a shoulder rib chop that's seasoned with a little salt,
and garlic, and fennel pollen.
It's a great cut.
We got the fore-shank, the trotters,
is where ossobuco and brine and smoked ham hunks come from.
So the trotter is really good for adding gelatin to tureens,
and adding just good umami and soul power
to braises and things like pata beans.
Things like that.
And then we've got, of course, the interior, the middle here,
as it's poetically named.
That comprises the loin, the belly,
which is obviously where bacon and panchetta come from.
Great cuts.
And then we're going to talk about the tenderloin, and also
the rest of these ribs.
This is the cut that we're going to be taking out and de-boning
to make our Cuban.
So the first thing I like to do is
to just kind of get a good idea about where we're
going, what we're looking at, by taking out
all this interior fat.
This is the fat that surrounds the kidney.
It's also called leaf lard.
This is the baker's best friend.
This is really good for things that you
want to puff up, like pie dough, biscuit
dough, things like that.
You grind and render this with a little bit of water,
and then strain it.
It'll hold really well in your fridge for quite a long time.
And one of the key tenants of charcuterie
is to use everything and not waste anything.
That goes doubly for fat.
So the first thing we like to do is
to just start to make it into smaller pieces.
As of right now, we've got a split hog.
We're going to separate this in the three prime cuts.
We're going to take our hind leg off for the the fresh ham.
We're going to take our shoulder off.
And that's going to leave us with the middle.
So the first thing we like to do is to take the shoulder off.
And to do that, what we usually do
is we separate it in between the fourth in the fifth rib.
And then we're going to saw through this backbone.
Sometimes depending on the age and the breed of the animal,
the shoulder blade will be either solid bone, which we'll
need to use the saw for, or it'll just
be softer cartilage, which we can use, as I call it,
Ali-Baba.
That'll get through it.
So again, right here there, the first rib can kind of hide,
so you have to get in there and find it.
I'm just going to go one, two, three, and four.
And in between ribs four and five,
we're just going to put our knife right through the middle,
lift it up just to make sure we're all the way through.
And again, kind of like with the shoulder blade,
sometimes the breast plate can be solid bone.
The thing you want to keep in mind with tools like this,
the bone saw, you only want to use for bone, because it'll
really tear the hell out of any muscle you try and cut it with.
So if it's not happening with the knife--
and you'll be able to tell once you're through.
Just like that.
So now we take Ali-Baba and just finish that cut.
And we're going to go all the way back up to the backbone.
Now, we're going to pick up our bone saw.
Go through there again.
[SAWING]
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: That looks like an accident waiting
to happen.
[SAWING]
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: OK.
So we're through the backbone.
And again, we're going to follow that same cut.
And we're through.
OK.
So now, we've got that piece taken off.
That's starting to look a little bit more familiar, right?
You can see the pork chop right in there?
That's where our rib chops start, right in there.
We'll put that back down.
OK.
Little intimidating, I know.
But once it starts getting smaller,
you'll be able to see where different parts come from.
To take the hind leg off, what we usually do
is we'll look at where the backbone starts
to curve into the tail right down here.
Right on the inside, this right here is where tenderloin is.
The tenderloin is sometimes confused
with the loin, which actually sits
on the outside of the backbone.
The tenderloin sits on the inside of the backbone.
Much softer muscle.
And a lot of times, it's kind of maligned as a flavorless cut.
And it isn't necessarily true, you just
have to know what to do with it.
What we do is we brush it with mustard and rosemary,
and we wrap it in panchetta, which is pretty much the best
way to make anything taste good, is we wrap it in panchetta.
AUDIENCE: Nothing goes better with pork than--
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: More pork.
Exactly.
If there's a lily to be gilded, we'll find it.
So we're just going to follow that one cut.
And again, the same principle all the way
back up to the backbone.
We'll take our saw.
[SAWING]
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: OK.
Sounds like we're through.
OK.
So now we've got hind leg, shoulder, and our middle.
And at this point, we've got all these ribs
here to contend with.
If we were cutting this in the American way, what I would do
is I would split this whole thing in half
and take the belly away from the ribs,
or the belly away from the loin, rather.
And this is when we get spare ribs versus baby ribs.
At this point, there's no such thing.
There's just ribs.
Spare ribs are the ones that are connected to the belly.
They're a little bit wider.
A little bit tougher.
And those are the ones that generally you
see done at barbecue competitions,
because they're a little bit harder to get from point A
to point B.
Whereas with baby backs, you can just kind of
toss them on a hot grille and wind up with something good.
But the mark of a good barbecue guy or gal
is how well you can do a spare rib.
We're not going to be doing that.
What we are going to be doing is we're
going to be taking each one of these ribs out individually.
The reason we're going to do that is, again,
to maximize the amount of meat that we'll end up with
left behind.
Also, it's going to leave behind all
these natural little grooves in there that
are going to hold onto all the garlic, and the salt,
and the orange zest, and everything.
So let's get started.
So I'm working it right against the bone.
We want to leave behind as much meat as possible.
A little brute force when necessary.
When in doubt.
So we're going to wind up taking out each one of these ribs
individually.
The cool thing about these ribs is that because of the fact
that you don't have all the connective tissue
in between them, which is the reason you need
to either braise them slowly, or to smoke them really slowly
over a long period of time, without that connective tissue
on there, and you can just toss these onto a hot grille
or into a hot oven with a quick marinade on them.
They've got a ton of flavor, and they're a lot more tender.
Right down--
The guy that I learned how to make this from in Italy
could do this in about three minutes flat.
He was very fast.
And he would do it reciting Dante the whole time too.
Pretty cool.
So I'm going to turn this around.
That's one other thing you always
want to keep in mind when taking on some kind of big project
like this.
If something isn't working out ergonomically,
you always want to be able to twist
and turn it just so that you're working in a way that's
most comfortable and safe to you.
Does anyone have any questions about any of this?
Yes?
AUDIENCE: What's the story with [INAUDIBLE]?
So this is clearly not refrigerated right now.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Not right now.
AUDIENCE: How long can you leave it out until it goes bad?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: About two hours.
Yeah.
Two hours.
Actually, the USDA guidelines say four.
We're going to have this done in about 45 minutes or so.
AUDIENCE: And then you can put it back and--
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: That's correct.
Yeah, we're going to get it seasoned.
And then we're going to roll it up and tie it.
Then we're going to go back in the fridge
and get it cooked off tomorrow.
Yes?
AUDIENCE: You're mentioning USDA reminded me
of a very popular issue, what temperature
to cook fresh pork to.
Because I know you're aware that the USDA has
a very high recommended temperature.
But a lot of chefs these days seem to prefer 141, 145.
What's your opinion?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Well, the USDA actually
did just revisit that.
And they changed it to 145 for cooked pork.
You can take it to 160.
It depends on what you're looking for.
With a pork loin roast, this guy right here gets really tender.
If you overcook it, it gets really tough really fast.
So we like to cook that one to about 140.
With shoulder and leg, the connective tissue in there
starts to break down at a slightly higher temperature,
about 150.
And that's actually what gives it the most flavor,
is when that connective tissue starts to break down.
So with shoulder and leg, I like to take them to 150.
Unless you're making pulled pork, in which case
you want it to collapse.
And then we take it to like, 181, 185.
Any other questions?
Yes?
AUDIENCE: You've seen a lot of prosciutto,
but not a lot of other legs cured.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Is there any particular
reason why we don't see like, lamb prosciutto and goat
prosciutto?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Some chefs make it.
The thing about lamb and goat in particular
is that when you age that fat, it gets a lot stronger.
So it's not to everybody's taste.
Also pork, as you can see, has the skin left on it.
Whereas with lamb, and with beef, and with goat,
you can't leave the skin on it because it will spoil.
And that skin, is it edible, like it is with pork?
You don't get like beef crackling or lamb
crackling, things like that.
So it's kind of a stronger flavor.
And without that skin also, when you dry cure something,
the skin acts like a natural armor coating.
It keeps it from going off, and it keeps them
from drying out too much also.
As a matter of fact, when we make prosciutto,
and we got the skin on the outside, this interior meat
part, after it's been salted for about six months
or so, what we'll do is we'll make a paste of rice flour
and lard, and rub that all over the inside of the hind leg.
And that kind of mimics what the skin does.
So it keeps it curing and drying out on the inside,
but without getting too hard or too dried out on the outside.
So I know people who are making lamb and goat prosciutto.
It can be good.
It can be very, very strong though too.
AUDIENCE: And I've also seen prosciuttos that were skin on
and hair on?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah.
That's wild boar prosciutto.
AUDIENCE: Is there any trick to doing that sanitarily?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: No.
Well, the reason that we don't make wild boar prosciutto much
in this country, at least not commercially,
is we don't have the same concentration of wild board
that they do like, in Italy.
You know, the cinghiale.
And there, they're allowed to make it,
because it's a much older practice.
Whereas here, our guidelines are a bit different.
AUDIENCE: What about at home for yourself?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: I'm sorry?
AUDIENCE: What about just for home?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Oh, you can definitely
do it at home by yourself, for sure.
You need to make sure you get a wild boar that's
big enough, for one thing.
Because if it's too small, the salt to meat ratios
don't really work out so well.
And the reason that they don't shave
those, the reason that they don't take all that hair off,
is because with wild pigs, the follicles
run a little bit too deep in there
for them to be able to scold them.
The way they get the hair off of a commercially-bred pigs,
even if it's a pastured pig like this one,
they put them in scolding tub after they've been slaughtered.
And then they hang it up.
And they're able to just get all that hair of with a planing
knife.
With a while boar, like I said, the roots run too deep,
and they're not able to get that off.
Usually what they'll do in Italy is
they'll just shave the skin off as they slice it.
And that's how they sell it there.
It' good stuff.
Just it's rare to see around here.
AUDIENCE: So as I understand it, one of the potential risks
or pitfalls of home charcuterie is botulism.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: That's correct.
AUDIENCE: But I'm just wondering like, how legitimate of a risk
is that?
And from your practice, like, do you guys inspect for that?
Or do you just assume that you're preparation is so--
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: We do.
I'm sorry, go ahead, please.
AUDIENCE: No, that was my question.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah.
Botulism is definitely a concern.
It's usually an issue more with canned products.
And that's one of the functions also of nitrates.
Nitrates will kill any possibility of botulism
in the finished product.
So one teaspoon of, it's called the curing mix.
It's mostly salt.
It's about 6% nitrate.
And then it's dyed pink with beat juice
so that you don't accidentally put a bunch into your scones
or something like that.
But there are many different things
that can come up with curing at home.
Which is why we advocate starting small.
Starting with small batches of smaller type salamis.
We wouldn't suggest to somebody to start with a prosciutto.
Start with like, a coppa, or a cacciatorini,
or a guanciale, or something like that.
Something small.
And a lot of times also, you can tell when something's gone off.
It won't look right, it won't smell right,
and it won't taste right.
We've evolved with these senses to tell us like, hey,
that's potentially dangerous.
So, yeah.
Using a small amount of nitrate and practicing.
Just doing a little bit at a time
is really the best way to do that.
In a larger commercial operation such as ours,
we're constantly sending stuff out
to be tested or inspected by four different agencies.
Yes?
AUDIENCE: I'm just curious, because I'm
really interested in doing home charcuterie,
but I'm terrified of it as well.
Is there any kind of home test?
Or is just literally, smells all right?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: I mean, yeah.
If it's nice bright red.
I mean, are you talking about like, dry curing?
Something like that?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: You want to have the right environment.
We cover that a lot in our book.
Curing salt will definitely help you.
Using enough salt.
And also, if you're even slightly in doubt,
just toss it.
Or bring it by.
I'll take a look at it at the shop.
Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Thank you.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Absolutely.
Does somebody else have a question?
AUDIENCE: I have like, 700 questions.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: OK.
Sure.
AUDIENCE: I'm kind of star struck right now.
I preordered your book.
Gosh, I don't even know where to start.
Do You do these types of butchery classes
for the public?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Every Saturday.
AUDIENCE: You do?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Absolutely.
AUDIENCE: Awesome.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: Is that in Napa?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Just in Napa.
Our kitchen in San Francisco is a little bit too small.
But we have 12 person classes with three instructors.
About three hours long.
And they include snacks, and wine, and lunch,
and a big bag of goodies to take home at the end of the day.
So, yeah.
Absolutely.
Yeah, that's one of my favorite parts of the week,
is teaching classes and meeting new people.
AUDIENCE: My friends are going to be happy about that.
And my other question is, what type-- I'm sorry,
I came in a little late.
What type of a pig is this?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: This a Berkshire hog,
which is also the Japanese kind of [INAUDIBLE], what's
called a Kurobuta.
I'm sorry?
AUDIENCE: Kurobuta is the same?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yes.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's same breed.
As I understand it, it was a gift
given to the emperor by a British ambassador.
And so, it's the same breed, just different names.
AUDIENCE: Do you ever cook with the wild boar
that we were talking about earlier?
Because I have a friend that hunts in Midland.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: OK.
In Texas?
AUDIENCE: No, no.
I'm sorry.
I think it's Midland near Napa.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: OK.
Oh, Middletown?
AUDIENCE: Middletown.
That's it.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: OK.
That place is lousy with them.
They're everywhere.
AUDIENCE: Really?
Is that good meat?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: It can be.
Yeah, it depends.
That's a lot more of a seasonal product.
And it depends a lot on the time of year
and what it's been eating, and things like that.
So like wintertime, when there's a lot to forage
and there's plenty of moisture, and they're
really well-hydrated, yeah, it can be great.
AUDIENCE: OK.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: OK.
So I've gotten all the ribs out.
What I'm going to do now is I'm going
to move the tenderloin over a little bit.
I'm going to take this whole backbone out in one big piece.
First, I'm just going to get rid of any blood
vessels and glands.
One of the things that we emphasize a lot when we're
teaching our class is just how little waste there really
is on a whole pig.
There's next to none.
So this is the tenderloin.
And ordinarily, if we wanted to cook this on its own,
we'd just take the whole thing out.
What we're going to do instead, though, we're
just going to work right around the backbone.
So, the whole thing will come out in one fell swoop.
Great stock.
Ramen, broth-making.
All that fun stuff.
OK.
Get this [INAUDIBLE].
[SCRAPING]
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: How we doing, boss?
RYAN HARRIS: All set.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Nice.
AUDIENCE: What are the best knives?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: I like to use a good cheapie boning
knife that's not too flexible.
Forshner and Victorinox are great ones.
They basically have pretty much every knife
you could think of, from cimeters, boning knives,
bread knives, chef knives.
All that fun stuff.
AUDIENCE: Quick question.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yes?
AUDIENCE: I'm also star struck, by the way.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: You all are too [INAUDIBLE].
AUDIENCE: My question is economically
speaking, how much does for a half--
if I were to go want to get a pig,
generally speaking, how much?
Is it significantly cheaper than buying it--
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: It would be cheaper than buying it in cuts
absolutely.
Especially because, when you buy it like this,
you're paying for the loin, and the leg, and the shoulder.
It's all the same price for a pound.
If you buy just the loin, generally, it's
going to be like, twice as much.
So I think we sell a hog this size for about $6 a pound,
whereas shoulder's usually about $8, loin is about $13,
belly is about $9, and hind leg is about $8.
This is about 180-pounder, so half of it
is going to be about 90 pounds.
It's $500 to $600.
RYAN HARRIS: We paid $335 whole sale.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Oh, cool.
RYAN HARRIS: So if you guys can wrap your head around that
a little bit, that was $350 worth of pig.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Oh, yeah.
For something like this, for a split, yeah, absolutely.
And I'm sure you can get the Google wholesale price too.
[LAUGHTER]
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: And it sounds like a lot off the top,
but when you consider how much meat it is
and how much you're going to get out of it,
this will keep you in pig for a good long time.
RYAN HARRIS: Entertained for a while too.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah, absolutely.
So what I'm doing right now is I'm just taking out
the bottom of the breast plate.
You all notice sometimes when you get ribs,
you get those little cartilage end spits at the bottom?
They're super tasty?
That's what these guys are right down here.
AUDIENCE: Somebody asked about lamb prosciutto earlier.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah.
AUDIENCE: I know Salumi in Seattle does lamb prosciutto.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: They do.
Yeah.
AUDIENCE: And I wanted to ask you, they certainly
got a lot of national attention.
Are you big fans of theirs?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Of Salumi?
Yeah, absolutely.
Some of the stuff they make is phenomenal.
You don't find too much in the way
of competitive backbiting in the salumi world.
There are so few of us, and we all know each other.
And it's the kind of thing that to do this for a living
and to be good at it enough so that people will actually come
and buy what you're making, we all know each other,
and we all compare notes, and are
very supportive of each other.
And Armandino Batali has been making
salumi for a really long time.
He's really good at it.
I was talking with Stephanie about Bruce Aidells at lunch.
And we're really lucky to have somebody like him.
He is an advocate, a teacher.
He's got great stories.
And he's just overall just been a really, really supportive
and great guy.
So yeah, some of the stuff that I've had from Salumi
is fantastic.
Like, I really like the mole salami.
I haven't been able to get up there.
But the things that I have had from there
have been really, really good.
AUDIENCE: Have you ever had their culatello?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: I have.
Yup.
And it's almost as good as the Italian culatello.
Almost.
But that's a tall order.
OK.
So at this point, I've got just about all the bones out.
So we need to get this left little bit of shoulder blade.
This last little bit of hind red bone.
And what we're going to do next is
we're going to turn this over and score the skin on it.
The reason we score the skin is because if you don't do that,
you won't get crackling.
And you want crackling.
Crackling is very important part of this roast.
So when we do it, what I like to do
is turn the boning knife upside down
and just use the back of the knife.
You're just looking to scratch it.
Because if you cut too deep, what happens is as it cooks,
it expands.
And it's going to open up, and you're
going to lose a ton of fat and meat juices.
And really, the only point of scoring
it is to allow the steam somewhere to go, and to allow
some of that subcutaneous fat to start rendering out.
So that's all you need to do.
You're just scratching.
I'm going to turn it back over.
Do you want start wrapping some of these parts up?
Do you mind?
AUDIENCE: Is that loin completely boneless?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yes.
This is completely boneless.
Yeah.
You can just pop it right over there.
Thanks.
So, yeah.
I'll just get in here and check it out again real quick.
A couple little pieces down here.
Thank you, sir.
AUDIENCE: How much are the classes now?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: 175.
That's three hours.
It includes lunch, a bunch of stuff to take home, recipe kit.
We also give a discount on the day of class
too for people who take it.
So we like to think it's a good value.
So that one last little bit here.
AUDIENCE: Is the class a hands-on class?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: It is.
It's as hands-on or as hands-off as you want it to be.
Most the time, people really want to get in there
and use the saw and everything else.
Sometimes people are taking it like, with their spouse
just to be supportive.
And they'll just hang back, and take notes, and snack.
Exactly.
And take a lot of photos.
But yeah, they are hands-on.
But we don't grade, and if people
don't want to get in there and be hands-on, that's OK too.
We want it to be customized.
We want it to be fun, and entertaining, and informative,
and as hands-on or hands-off as people want it to be.
OK.
So let's start seasoning it.
One last little piece.
OK.
So the order in which we're going to season this
is actually really important.
The reason being because some of these ingredients,
we're going to really get in and smear them on and massage them
in, whereas some are just going to get kind of sprinkled.
So with that in mind, we always do the garlic
and he orange zest first, because we're
going to really be working that in pretty good.
So the whole idea here is that especially with something
like this, this is about a 25-pound roast.
So you need to use a lot of seasoning.
A lot, a lot, a lot.
It is.
It's kind of too much of everything.
But they all prop each other up so
that it's really well-balanced, yet over the top.
And this roast is one of the means that
was in that sandwich that made for you all a little while ago.
It's called the Cuban.
Sounds like something out of a spy novel.
Get me the Cuban.
AUDIENCE: Did you chop the garlic and the zest
before you started grinding it?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: We just mortar and pestle it.
I started it a little bit so it wouldn't
go flying into the camera.
But normally, we just smash it.
Yeah.
And remember little pocket where the shoulder blade was?
I want to make sure you give that a little love.
All those little grooves in between where the ribs were?
OK.
So next, there's expertly zested orange.
You always want to use zest because it has the most
oils, whereas juice is very acidic,
and it can sometimes denature the meat.
So instead of being nice solid roast,
it'll kind of break it down.
Same idea with like, ceviche.
That's how it cooks the meat, is by acidulating it.
So for this, you really want to use this zest.
And these are kind of fundamentals.
You can definitely mix it up a bit.
If you've got a Meyer lemon tree in your yard,
and you wanted to use meyer lemon,
you could definitely do that.
You could use lime.
That's really strong, and you want to be careful with it,
but you can definitely do it.
Orange, Seville orange, blood orange.
Any of that.
All good.
So that's on there pretty good.
And now is the salt.
So this is where you really want to channel your inner Thomas
Keller and go from really high up, because the higher up you
go, the more evenly it's going to disperse.
And you need to use a lot of it.
Keep in mind, this is a big glorious roast.
And especially with all the other goodies
we're going to be putting on there,
you need it to have a good amount of salt.
Don't neglect your pocket.
Gonna lift that bad boy up.
This is the skirt steak by the way,
if you're all familiar with that.
AUDIENCE: What type of salt are you using?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: We sea salt or kosher salt.
Whatever you like, the most important thing
is that it's not iodized table salt, because that's gross.
But we use Giusto's sea salt, the local product.
Good stuff.
And you can buy it in a 50-pound bag.
Which is good.
We use a lot of salt.
AUDIENCE: Would you ever brine this?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: I wouldn't brine it,
just because it would ruin your crackling.
You could definitely brine it.
I'm definitely pro-brining.
Especially when it comes to leaner cuts.
A lot of times, we'll take where this back half
or the tenderloin was, this is where t-bone or porter house
chops come from.
We'll take those chops, and we'll
brine them with a hard cider, and sugar, and salt brine.
And then we'll cold smoke them, so that basically, you
get like, a cold smoked hard cider brand
pork chop that is just one of the best things on the planet.
It's really good.
AUDIENCE: How do you feel about injection brining?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Works.
Good stuff.
Absolutely.
You can definitely injection brine something like this.
A lot of times, we'll do that when
we dress up whole pigs for people.
Because that way, for one thing, finding a container big enough
to submerge them like this is kind of challenging.
But especially with a really big cut like that, hind leg,
you know, sometimes you put a lot of salt on the outside,
but it still never quite penetrates all the way
through to the bone.
So what we'll do is we'll season the cavity with whatever spices
the client wants.
Generally, they want porchetta seasoning.
But then, we will take a little bit
of the garlic brine or something else,
and we'll inject just the thicker
parts of the whole pig for them.
And it helps keep it juicy too.
RYAN HARRIS: If you can't get a hold of a middle
and you want to brine your loin, you
can always buy loin with on belly, brine the loin, brine
the belly, and you get the best of both worlds.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah.
And you still get some skin on it too.
RYAN HARRIS: It doesn't quite slice like the middle does.
AUDIENCE: Is there an ideal cut to begin with for curing?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: For curing?
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah, like I was saying, something small.
Guanciale is a really good one.
That's cured pork jowl.
That one cures really well, because it's
got a very high fat content.
Its about 90%, whereas like, pork belly's only 80%.
So it's just giving you an idea.
But it's really good, because it doesn't take all that long.
And it also gives you a lot of *** for your buck.
It doesn't take that long to cure,
but you use it for starting sauces, braises,
things like that.
If you're familiar with carbonara,
like the sauce carbonara?
That's traditionally the cut that's used for carbonara,
is guanciale.
Really popular in Rome.
You don't see a lot here.
But generally, we advocate with just about everything
starting small, and working your way up from there.
AUDIENCE: We used to get a lot of smoked guanciale in LA.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Oh, yeah.
Face bacon.
So now, we're going to put a little bit of Allspice on it.
And this one being a bit strong, we're
not going to go too crazy with it.
OK.
Then, cumin.
Cumin and fennel are cousins.
I don't know if you all knew that.
AUDIENCE: Really?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: They are.
And at this point, you want to kind of stop
seeing the color of the meat, and go really crazy
with the amount of spice that goes on here.
AUDIENCE: Do you grind your own spices?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yes.
Absolutely.
Yeah, we toast them and grind them as we need them
and as we use them.
The only one we used to buy ground was mace,
but then we found a supplier who we could get whole mace from.
Have you ever seen whole mace?
It's really cool.
It's the outside covering of a nutmeg.
Yeah.
And that's what mace is.
AUDIENCE: I thought that was poison, though.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Sorry?
AUDIENCE: I thought that was poison.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Mace?
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE].
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Well, outside of nutmeg, I mean, I've
been using it for years.
[LAUGHTER]
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Not that poisonous.
OK.
So that's about enough.
So now we're going to do about equal parts
of sweet, smoked paprika and hot smoked paprika.
I'm going to try not to do a number on your carpet here.
It's nice.
If you don't like spicy, you can use bittersweet or all sweet.
You don't have to use the hot.
AUDIENCE: Are there curing or other techniques
that you can do in Europe, but that for whatever reason,
the USDA or whatever government body
doesn't permit you to do in America that you
wish you could.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: That I wish I could--
we're allowed to do pretty much anything we want to do,
with the exception of what he was
talking about with wild boar.
But we really don't have enough access to much wild boar here
anyway.
I mean, that would be really cool.
Because at its best, wild boar, it's a different beast.
It's kind of like pork meets beef.
It's really, really super meaty.
But no, not that I can think of.
With good reason, there's a lot of regulations surrounding
this, just to make sure that the whole supply from start
to finish is safe.
And yeah, there are a lot of regulations.
But they're for everyone's benefit.
And it takes a lot of time doing all the paperwork
and everything like that.
And we like to complain about it a little,
bit because at heart, we're cooks and butchers.
And we're into this for the artisanal passion of it,
and not to necessarily be logging times and temperatures
all day long.
But for the most part, no.
Once we can demonstrate to our inspectors
that it's proven to be safe, and that we
know what we're doing, that we're keeping track of it
from start to finish, we're pretty much safe.
If it's safe and people like it, then go for it.
AUDIENCE: Why do you think in Spain, if you walk just
walk down the streets, there's just dozens of-- all the bars
have cured hams, and here, it's such a rarity.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Because nobody
loves ham like the Spaniards.
Nobody.
Their regulations are a little bit more relaxed.
We wouldn't be able to keep them out of refrigeration like that.
Whereas in Spain, they cure their hams
enough so that it is a truly shelf stable product.
Once that thing is cured, and they cure them
for like, two years.
And the reason I say that nobody loves ham like the Spaniards
is because they really don't care about keeping enough
going so that the whole world can have it whenever they want
it, and that they can sell it for a cheap price.
They cure it until it's ready.
Whereas in Parma, and France, and even here to a degree,
the impetus is to get it up, and get it down, and get it out
into the world, so that they can see a return on it.
Yes?
AUDIENCE: I don't know how much market there
is in the US for Spanish style ham
at up to 130 Euros per kilo.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah.
The pata negra and the Bellota-Bellota
is very expensive.
And that's the reason behind it, is
because it's made from really well-raised pigs that
are out there on pasture eating acorns.
Some of the Spanish producers, they'll
only use one side of the pig, because the other side,
they constantly rub against a tree and they scratch.
And they think that that side is inferior.
There's a little bit of superstition involved,
but that's valid.
OK.
Let me get all this extraneous gear out of the way here.
Thanks.
And so now, we've got this huge, glorious well-seasoned roast.
I'm going to roll this bad boy up and tie it.
So, you usually want to start from the loin side,
because you want the belly to kind of be
wrapping around the outside.
OK.
We take our trusty Fatted Calf brand
16 ply red and white cotton twine.
And basically what we're doing here
is we're making a slip knot.
So we're just going to make a few knots, one at each end,
and one in the middle.
And then we're going to go and fill in the gaps.
I'm doubling this over because it's such a mighty cut,
that one length just won't really do it.
This is going to take me a few minutes,
so if anyone has any questions, fire away.
AUDIENCE: Have you ever worked with Mangalitsa before?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: I have.
My opinion is that it's too warm in the US
to raise Mangalitsa really well.
The reason that it has all that fur and that really thick
fat cap on it is because it's native to Hungary,
and it gets cold.
It gets really, really, really cold.
Yeah, I've had some that's really tasty.
Honestly, it cost twice as much as any other heritage pasture
raised pig.
And it's just not worth it.
AUDIENCE: Yeah.
I know some of Italian restaurants
were making a big deal about it a few years ago.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: I think it was kind of a good idea.
I think some things are just best left
to where they were originated.
At some point soon, there might be
a farmer who does it really well.
They're temperamental.
And they take a lot longer to get to weight.
Also, they have such a high fat ratio,
that when you say you're a farmer who sells that,
you're selling somebody 50% fat.
And you have to charge them an astronomical fee for it.
It's a hard sell.
That's the long and short of what I'm getting at.
What we prefer to use for really fatty cuts like that
when we want to make like, lardo or lonza, things like that,
we like to get Gloucester Old Spot, which
is a British large breed.
They're very similar.
But the meat itself is really good too.
And also, it's a bit more available.
AUDIENCE: The last time I heard, Wooly Pigs in in Spokane
still had a monopoly on it I guess.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Well, basically, that guy,
he had the only breeding stock in this country.
And so when he would sell piglets to people,
he would sell them fixed, so that somebody
couldn't go and start their own breeding program.
That's not really how I like to operate.
But as you can tell from the book, I'm not big on secrets.
If there's something that I've learned,
I'd like to pass it along.
AUDIENCE: Is there a reason you're only
coming from the rear side?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Oh, that's just where I'm starting.
It's from years and years of practice, I guess.
You can definitely start it from the other side though.
For sure.
It's a secret.
AUDIENCE: What are some of your favorite restaurants around
here?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Favorite restaurants around here?
Like Southbank?
Or like, San Francisco?
I love La Ciccia.
Love, love, love La Ciccia.
It's a Sardinian place.
Mostly seafood.
Really, really wonderful family.
Unusual different food.
Great wine list.
I love Nopa.
You all had Laurence here, right?
I think they do an incredible job.
Where else do I really like?
I like the Chocolate Lab.
It's Recchuiti's place.
You know, the chocolate company?
They have a little cafe that they started down
in the Dogpatch neighborhood that's really good.
I don't get out much. [LAUGHS]
[LAUGHTER]
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Let's see.
If it's in a tortilla, I'm into it.
I love, love some taco.
RYAN HARRIS: The Burritoeatery.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah, the Burritory.
Yeah.
A buddy of ours, a guy who was working with us at The Fatted
Calf in Napa for awhile, he started a truck.
It's Sonoran.
Sonoran burritos.
And the tortillas themselves, we had some this morning.
They just unreal.
AUDIENCE: Is he still up in Napa?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: He's at Soma Street Food Park
every Thursday?
RYAN HARRIS: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: OK.
Cool.
AUDIENCE: Any in San Francisco?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yes.
Yeah.
The one right over there by Trader Joe's.
AUDIENCE: You said on Thursdays?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, apparently.
RYAN HARRIS: Yeah.
The hours vary each week.
It's on their website.
He's there every Thursday, Friday.
And its always good.
AUDIENCE: It's Burritory.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah.
Burritory.
Yeah.
AUDIENCE: You're emphasizing most detailed use of the pig,
but are you [INAUDIBLE]?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yes, absolutely.
AUDIENCE: You didn't mention Encanto when [INAUDIBLE].
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: I haven't been there for a while,
to be honest with you.
It's very good.
But it's kind of like a bus man's holiday.
When I go out to eat, I usually don't go to pork temples.
But yeah, Encanto's very good.
AUDIENCE: They don't have as much offal on the menu
as I'm sure Chris would like.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Yeah, it can wear you down,
eating a lot a of that.
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE] like to sell more [INAUDIBLE]?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Well, he does those fifth quarter dinners.
AUDIENCE: I had that once.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: How'd you like it?
AUDIENCE: Oh, we loved it.
It was my wife and another couple.
And our waiter commented, aren't you guys finished?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Well, it's very rich stuff.
The way I like to use offal is diced in tureens,
like as a garner, so you get like, a little bit of it.
OK.
I think we're just about there.
So I'm going to cut this in half.
I'm just going to show you all what
it looks like on the inside.
OK.
And that's the Cuban.
A little boneless Cuban pork roll.
Any other questions?
AUDIENCE: So how long does that cure for?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: It's best to let it cure,
or to sit with the seasoning on it,
for-- I like to let it sit for about two, three days.
AUDIENCE: And then you roast it?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: And then you roast it.
Exactly.
Yeah.
Yeah, because all that seasoning,
it does wind up permeating through the meat.
If we were to toss this in the oven right now and carve it,
it'd be good.
But it's going to be better after a couple days,
with all the salt--
AUDIENCE: And once you roast it, how quickly
do you have sell it before it--
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Oh, we sell it that day.
Yeah, yeah.
When we roast porchetta, as soon as it's out of the oven,
we'll put it on the counter, and we'll sell it by weight.
If there's any left after a few hours,
we'll wrap it up, refrigerate it, and turn it
into sandwiches the next day.
AUDIENCE: Is this actually different than like,
a porchetta?
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: The cut is the same,
but it's just the seasonings that are different.
Yeah, I mean, we've done Korean style ones with soy, and honey,
and ginger, and Korean chili flake, and a normal coriander,
and cilantro.
That one's a lot of fun.
Again, there's Meyer lemon.
You could use lime.
You basically want like, a balance of toasted spices,
citrus, garlic, a good amount of salt,
and whatever else you want in there.
But yeah, it definitely is open to interpretation.
Yeah.
MALE SPEAKER: OK.
I'd like to thank you guys for coming out today.
Taylor and Ryan.
Awesome job.
TAYLOR BOETTICHER: Thank you so much for having us.
MALE SPEAKER: Beautiful.
Let's give them a round of applause.