Before Covid, we produced a special version of our dried meat every month.
Special marinades, refined spices, collaborations with producers of various kinds, selected meats … then Covid arrived and we slowed down our project.
Now we have started again with the maximum momentum and we want to make up for lost time. This month we did two different limited editions.
BBQ and Forest: One Shot of the month of February
The BBQ sauce invented in the U.S.A. between the 19th and 20th centuries. The variations are endless. But let’s say that they follow a basic line focused on 8 main elements: the base, the sweet, the acid, a flavor enhancer, the aromatic, a thickener, spicy and a gloss.
The base is usually ketchup or tomato paste. As for the sweet part, it can be made with molasses, maple or corn syrup, honey or raw cane sugar. The acid typically comes from distilled vinegar, apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice. For flavor enhancer, we don’t refer to chemistry, but to jam, concentrated fruit juice, soy sauce rather than worchestershire sauce. The aromatic part can be given by various spices such as salt, pepper, onion, garlic, etc. The thickening effect can be achieved with mustard or honey. If you want a pinch of spiciness in addition to chilli, pepper or Tabasco can also help. To close a glossy effect to the sauce, it can be obtained with glucose or maple syrup rather than honey.
Depending on the place where it is produced, the recipe changes:
ALABAMA
It is based on mayonnaise and therefore white in color. It is pungent and sour.
ARKANSAS
Liquid consistency, it is based on vinegar, tomato and has sweetish notes
KANSAS CITY
Among the best known, it is well suited to accompany pork ribs (the famous ribs). It is based on concentrated tomato and can be recognized because it is shiny and shiny, while the flavor is molassed and sweet and sour. This is what we commonly find on the market.
KENTUCKY
Concentrated dark sauce made from Worcestershire sauce and vinegar.
CAROLINA’S
Mustard-based sauce with a hint of spiciness
For our limited edition BBQ we have chosen to create a not too sweet taste, characterized by hints of black pepper and smoke. We wanted to remember the aroma of the sauce, without being too sweet, already given by pork.
For the second limited edition, we were inspired by the tradition of Alpine cured meats, such as speck and other smoked cured meats typical of the area. Often these products are characterized by forest herbs, such as juniper, bay leaf, rosemary, red garlic, coriander, cumin, etc. Speck is traditionally subjected to a drying and smoking process.
For our “limited edition FOREST” we started with laurel and juniper, the real lowest common denominators of all speck treats. Then a touch of smoking to remember the aroma of the fireplace and forest spices to remember the mountains where this tradition was born.
