Whats the advantage of charcuterie over other cured meats?
Scott Buer: With charcuterie you’re dry curing. Because it’s never heated, the marbling is right there. It’s kind of like with wine, how you can taste a good year. Charcuterie showcases what the small producer can do better. All of the hog’s diet comes through in the meat fat, too. If they are eating grass and taking up what they want to eat, the floral notes you can pick up in the pork fat are incredible. AVC: Where do you get your hogs? SB: There are farmers in Wisconsin and Iowa growing the special heritage breeds that we use. We are working with a Berkshire grower in Iowa, and a woman that’s growing Mulefoot hogs in Wisconsin. Our third grower is a guy I know in Lake Geneva raising Hereford hogs. There are only about a thousand Mulefoot hogs and a thousand Hereford hogs in the entire U.S. I can tell you exactly where every piece of meat comes from and who the farmer is. And these farmers are into it. They are the kinda people that make YouTube videos and blog about their hogs. AVC:
