Appenzeller Mostbröckli

April 8, 2021 by AOG Leave a Comment

Name: Mostbröckli

Region: Appenzell

History: Mostbröckli is a smoked and dry cured meat product made from beef in the Appenzeller region of Switzerland. Historically, the Appenzeller farmers were very active in the dairy industry, which accounts for the use for beef to make this product as opposed to the more expensive (at the time) pork. It is thought that it name comes from the fact that it is either cured with or enjoyed with “most”, fermented apple wine commonly called cider in English, Suure Moscht in Swiss German, or Apfelwein in high German.

It is one of three famous beef cured products in Switzerland. The other two are Bündnerfleisch from Graubünden and Viande séchée (also known as Trockenfleisch in the German-speaking parts of Switzerland) du Valais. However, Mostbröckli is the only one of the three that is smoked. And while Bündnerfleisch is characteristically always pressed into a rectangular shape, as is Viande séchée, Mostbröckli can be netted and shaped but does not need to be. This is due to regional differences where these cured meat products were developed. Graubünden and Valais both are mountainous regions and air-drying can naturally be carried out in the alpine air from 800-1300 meters above sea level. Appenzell is a more humid low-lying valley, where the traditional drying relied upon smoking in order to preserve meat. The process for drying Mostbröckli takes on average 5 weeks, while for Viande séchée it takes 5-16 weeks, and for Bündnerfleisch it takes 12-24 weeks…of course all dependent on size and environmental conditions. So now that we have a bit of an understanding of the geographic conditions that shaped the process of curing, drying, and smoking Mostbröckli in Switzerland, how is it made?

How it’s made:

The meat:

These days, Mostbröckli is made with beef (although it was traditionally also made from horse and dog meat) from one of the following cuts:

Runder Mocken
Eckstück
Vorschlag
Nierstück
Huft

I personally like to use the same cut I would use for bresaola, the eye round cut, which is easy enough to find from butchers in the US.

The spices:

Mandatory Spices: Sea salt, sugar, black pepper, bay leaf, juniper, and garlic.

Additives: Nitrates and anti-oxidants (to prevent against oxidation of fat, especially in projects with beef, there is the traditional industry use of ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate. For personal projects, I haven’t found them to be much use.)

Optional Spices: Other spices such as allspice can be added as long as they do not overpower the mandatory ones.

Optimal Liquids: Wine or “most”.

Optional Additions: MSG, potassium sorbate, and whole muscle starter cultures such as Lactobacillus species, food-grade Staphylococcus species, or Micrococcus species.

The Processing:

Similar to bresaola, because this is beef and beef fat tends to oxidize faster than pork fat, the raw meat is stripped of fat and tendons. (This is done traditionally in the industry for beef products, but I’ve done some very nice projects with fatty cuts of beef with no issues, so we’ll do it here for traditions sake, but know that it’s not as hard and fast rule as some would lead you to believe.)

The meat is rubbed with the spices mentioned above and allowed to dry cure. They can either be cured in a traditional excess cured way, or using equilibrium curing under vacuum. Depending on the size and the method, the curing process can take anywhere 1-5 weeks. I will do this step using equilibrium curing under vacuum.

After curing, the meat can be hung in a cold place for 1-4 days. If using a preservative such as potassium sorbate to prevent unfavorable mold development, it can be added here. I will personally skip this step when making it at home.

The meat then hung in a smokehouse set up, where it is smoked over the time period of 1-3 weeks. In this stage, the temperature can reach up to 40C, which is higher than most other cold smoked products. This accelerates the weight loss for this particular type of cured meat product. The final weight loss should be between 30-45%, and will take 1-3 weeks. Various woods are allowed to be used to generate the smoke for this process.

Timing: Like most cured meat projects, it is traditionally cured throughout the wintertime after the fall harvest.

How it’s eaten: Appenzeller Mostbröckli should be enjoyed thinly sliced, served with a piece of dark bread, such as a Bürli. Given its name, it can be enjoyed with a nice Suure Moscht. Ideally suited for a summer apéro along the river with friends.

How I learnt about it: Traveling around Switzerland, I’ve run into Mostbröckli, Bündnerfleisch, and Trockenfleisch and wondered what set them apart. I made sure to buy all three to bring to a summer apéro with friends to determine the differences between them and pick my favorite.

(Un)fortunately, we ended up rafting down the Limmat river, and our apéro ended up being a picnic along the bank of the river until the sun set, with enough Swiss beer that while I know I had a favorite, for the life of me I can’t remember which it was. All it means is I need to re-try them all again soon!

The DIY: I haven’t made this one yet, but it is high on my list of next projects. Because of that, I’ve made a curing sheet recipe that is attached here. Just be aware, this is currently an untested recipe.

Curing:

Weigh your eye round of beef or whichever cut you have decided to use. You can use the following interactive spreadsheets to calculate the cure you will need for your own project; just fill in the weight of your meat in the appropriate white cell in the spreadsheet and hit enter. There is no need to make any other changes to the spreadsheet.

*Note: Please use common sense. Make sure the spreadsheet is working properly for you and double check any calculations that don’t seem right.

Mix the meat together with the spices, vacuum seal it together, and allow it to cure at 4C for 2-3 weeks.

Casing:

After this time, rinse off the cure. If you would like, rinse the meat in “most” aka cider for 30 minutes or so, to give it some extra flavor. You could continue this overnight if you wanted a stronger flavor from the cider.

I prefer to case my cured meat products, because I feel that it promotes more even drying and results in a better end product. This is optional, but if you would like to, now is the time to case the meat in a beef bung, tie it up, and hang it in a curing chamber at around 12C, 75% RH for 4 days.

Smoking and Drying:

If you have a smoke house, after 4 days move it to the smokehouse to be smoked and dry cured altogether in the more traditional manner. In this way, it should be ready at ~30-45% weight loss in about 1-3 weeks. Make sure that temperatures don’t exceed 40C.

Otherwise, we will do stepwise smoking. In this method, move the meat from your dry curing set up as frequently as possible to your cold smoking set up. This will be highly dependent on your set up and time availability. For example, you might move it to your cold smoking every set up every weekend to cold smoke it for 8 hours, and then return it to your dry curing chamber after the cold smoking is complete for another week. In this way, you can infuse the meat with smoke while still maintaining it at the safe temperature and humidity conditions it needs to lose weight over time. With this method it may take longer to meet the target weight loss of 30-45%. It won’t be the traditional method, but with some flexibility and by keeping an eye on it, you can approximate it pretty well at home.

Tasting:

After it has reached its target weight, you can clean off any mold with more “most” or cider. Make sure to slice it thin, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Meat curing is a hobby that comes with inherent risks. We can all do things to limit this risk by educating ourselves about the process and the utilizing the safest known methods to create our products. This website is for educational purposes only, and all experimentation should be done at each individuals own risk.

References:

https://www.aop-igp.ch/fileadmin/Dokumente/Pflichtenhefter/Appenzeller_Mostbr%C3%B6ckli_Pflichtenheft.pdf

https://www.patrimoineculinaire.ch/Produkt/Bundnerfleisch-GGAIGP-Pulpa/342

https://www.aop-igp.ch/appenzeller-mostbroeckli/

https://www.patrimoineculinaire.ch/Produit/Viande-sechee-du-Valais-IGP/120

Saucisse d’Ajoie

March 27, 2020 by AOG Leave a Comment

Name: Saucisse d’Ajoie IGP

Region: The district of Porrentruy

History:

The saucisse d’Ajoie is a particularly famous smoked pork saucisse spiced with garlic and cumin seeds. The IGP protected saucisse comes only from the Porrentruy district in the Jura, while others made in the Jura but not in the Porrentruy area are often referred to as “household” or “cumin” saucisse. It is uncertain how long this particular saucisse has been made this way; claims go back to the 15^th century, but the first evidence comes from written recipes and accounts in the 19^th century.

Today, the saucisse d’Ajoie is eaten year round, but particularly on St. Martin’s Day. The St. Martin’s festival is thrown every year around November 11^th, and in Porrentruy, this festival is dedicated to the pig. A popular variety of the saucisse d’Ajoie, the thinner croquante d’Ajoie, is toasted and served on bread.

Grilled croquante d’Ajoie, served on bread.

How it’s made:

Meat: The saucisse d’Ajoie is made using 66% lean pork and 33% fatty pork, such as pork belly or collar. Optional: There is also an allowance to use up to 10% ground beef if desired.

Spices: Salt (1.6-2.0%), whole cumin, ground white pepper, garlic, and nitrates. Optional: Nutmeg and red wine, as long as they don’t dominate the flavor of the saucisse.

Processing: The meat is allowed to be pre-salted before it is ground if it is desired. The meat is ground on a medium grind (5-8mm), traditionally done with a bowl cutter on slow speed. The seasonings are added, and then the mixture is kneaded so that the grain is still visible. The mixture is stuffed into hog casings with a diameter of 32-36 mm. If the coquante version is being made, they are stuffed into sheep casings with a diameter of 20-22 mm.

If the meat has not been pre-salted, it is allowed to hang for 2 hours after stuffing. After this point, the saucisse is smoked with soft wood with maximum temperature of 40 C for at least 24 hours.

The final product should have a pleasant smell of light smoke and be golden brown in outward appearance. Once cut into, it should be a pinkish red, homogenous, with a well-defined 5-8 mm grain.

Traditionally, when these saucisse were made they were kept in the family attic. They were eaten over time, so the first batches were cooked and eaten fresh; when they got down to the later batches, they had been dried over time, and so were eaten raw. The dried version is not included in the IGP protection, but is still being done by those who uphold the tradition and can be found in markets.

On the left, dried saucisse d’Ajoie. On the right, fresh saucisse d’Ajoie.

Timing: The saucisse d’Ajoie is enjoyed year round, but particularly on St. Martin’s Day, around the 11^th of November.

How it’s eaten:

The saucisse d’Ajoie is traditionally cooked in water around 80C, simmering but not quite boiling. It is served with sauerkraut, root vegetables, or green beans. Grilling the saucisse has become very popular with families who have decided to have a picnic during the nice weather of summer and fall. In recognition of this fact, butchers have developed the croquante version, which is thinner and easier to grill.

How I learnt about it:

The saucisse d’Ajoie in particular brings back really good memories for me, because my Dad came to visit me in Switzerland and we traveled to Porrentruy for the St. Martin’s Feast on my birthday.

This way to the Marché…first pig art spotting.

We had a blast catching up, walking through the market place, sampling all of cured meats and local foods, listening to the traditional music, looking t pig inspired art, and learning about local cooking methods.

Scenes from Porrentruy, more pig art sightings.

We shared a croquante d’Ajoie, saucisson sec and Tête de Moine, le gâteau aux patates, les marrons chauds, plenty of vin chaud, and had a fantastic time. It will be a birthday to remember for the ages.

The DIY

*Note: Please use common sense. Make sure the spreadsheet is working properly for you and double check any calculations that don’t seem right.

Sources:

https://www.aop-igp.ch/fileadmin/Dokumente/Pflichtenhefter/Saucisse_d_Ajoie_Cahier_des_charges.pdf

https://www.aop-igp.ch/fr/saucisse-dajoie-igp/

https://www.patrimoineculinaire.ch/Produit/Saucisse-dAjoie-IGP/21

http://www.boucherievallat.ch/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=17

http://www.terroir-juraregion.ch/produits-du-terroir-jura-et-jura-bernois/aop-igp-fr/saucisse-d-ajoie-igp-fr

Saucisse Aux Choux

October 10, 2019 by AOG 2 Comments

The Official Saucisse Aux Choux Vaudoise IGP

Name: Saucisse aux choux vaudoise

Region: Vaud

History: The origin story of the saucisse aux choux vaudoise has its roots in legend. It’s said that the saucisse owes its invention to the town of Orbe during the middle ages, around the year 879. The Emperor Charles the Fat was supposedly in town overstaying his welcome, and eating the town out of house and home. As meat became rare, an innovative townsperson had the brilliant idea to use cabbage to make their sausage in order to stretch the meat. Now, it could just be that this was a commonplace thing, to stretch meat with whatever was around, but who doesn’t like a compelling story? It became a regional specialty, made to this day, and protected under PGI identification.

How it’s made:

Meat: A 60% lean pork meat to 40% pork fat ratio. Boiled pork skin (~25%), blanched and pressed white cabbage(~5%). Optional: Pork liver (~5%).

Note: The meat is a combination of pork 1 and pork 2 with minimal membranes, sinews, or tendons. See Charcutier, Salumiere, Wurstmeister by Francois Vecchio to get a better understanding of the pork 1 and pork 2 breakdown.

Spices: Salt, black pepper. Optional Spices: Garlic, coriander, nutmeg, mace, cloves, and anise. Other optional components: White wine, sugar, nitrates, starter culture.

Processing: Lean pork mixed with fat and skin is used for this saucisse. The meat is ground using a 5 mm plate, while the boiled pork skin is ground through a 3 mm plate. The meat is mixed with the spices until it has achieved a good bind. Then, this mixture is stuffed into beef casings with a diameter of 38-40 mm or 40-42 mm, looped, with a length of ~ 30 cm. The ends can be tied off with either string or clips. Each sausage should weight around 300-400 g. It is then hung and cold smoked (18-28 C) for 24 hours, usually using a mix of local hardwood and conifer. The cold smoke gives the exterior a golden brown exterior, while the inside remains a nice reddish pink color.

Timing: Like most cured meat products, this one is made during the colder months, traditionally between September and April.

How it’s eaten:

After the meat has been smoked, it’s ready to be cooked and eaten. The saucisse is usually boiled for 35-40 minutes at ~ 75C, before being cut open and served on a bed of leeks and potatoes (called papet Vaudois). Some chefs prefer not to cook the sausage separately, but cook the sausages over low heat directly on the papet Vaudois. If you’ve made this sausage (or if you’ve bought it) and want to eat it in the traditional way, I suggest checking out this recipe by Helvetic Kitchen.

How I learnt about it:

This is arguably the least interesting for those out there who are reading this on order to create their own projects, but hopefully of some interest to those who (like me) are interested in traveling the world chasing cured meat. This wurst is an IGP product from the Vaud region of Switzerland, and in particular, its birthplace is said to be in the town of Orbe. Therefore, for a number of years now, the town of Orbe has held a three-day festival on the last weekend in September to celebrate this product. The festival is filled with local food, beer, music, and of course, a demonstration of the local butchers making the sausage itself!

This year, I took the time to travel to this festival, where I was able to see the sausage being made, communicate (in very broken French that was probably actually more Italian than French) with the butchers doing the demonstration about the process, and sample the sausage in the traditional manner.

The DIY Saucisse Aux Choux Vaudoise IGP

Now, it’s not really saucisse aux choux vaudoise unless it’s made in the region of Switzerland discussed above, in the manner discussed above, with Swiss ingredients. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make it at home and call it whatever you want. Here, I’ll post the recipe how I would make it at home.

Disclaimer: Unlike all my other recipes, I haven’t actually made this one at home yet, so there won’t be any process pictures to follow. Hopefully, I will find the time to make it myself soon, and then will update this page.

Planning:

The following spreadsheet gives an approximation of the ratios to use for this saucisse, of course amounts and spices can be altered for taste.

Grinding and Mixing:

Grind the meat, fat, blanched and pressed cabbage, and liver through a 5 mm plate. Grind boiled pig skins through a 3 mm plate. Mix them together with the white wine and spices until you create a paste that sticks together with a nice consistency. Keep it cool while you do this.

Stuffing:

Take the mixture and stuff it into casings, preferably Beef Rounds (40/43 mm). You can usually find these already cut and tied. Make sure to stuff the mixture in a steady and compact manner. Tie off the ends.

Fermentation/Cold Smoking:

Once the saucisse is stuffed, tie the two ends together, and hang it in a place where you have a cold smoking set up. Preferably, cold smoke using hard wood for around 24 hours. Keep the temperature below 82 F. At this point, you’re almost ready to go.

Enjoying:

To enjoy this saucisse, boil it for 35-40 minutes at ~ 75C, cut open, and served on a bed of leeks and potatoes or use the recipe from Helvetic Kitchen mentioned above.