lountza - cured Cypriot pork loin

[Fatmat]

Hi Folks,

I came across Lountza online today whilst searching for another Cypriot recipe. Does anybody know of a proper recipe for it before I start making stuff up and getting it wrong.

Many thanks and a happy new year to you all,

Mat

[grisell]

This is what I found in my Cypriot cookbook (translated by me from Swedish):

Lountza: Pork loin is first salted and then marinated in red wine for 8-10 days. After marinating, seasoned with lots of crushed coriander seeds, then cold smoked and air dried.

Then I did a google search for Λούντζα + συνταγή (lountza + recipe) and came across this barely decipherable text (using googleTranslate):

"A piece of pork plywood, xekokalismeno (2-3 kilos) 4 pounds coarse salt 1 pound of sugar, 200 gr marathosporo 1litro lees than Vinsanto Roll Sirloin roll wrap and refrigerate for a day in a pot that has been grilled on to drain the liquid, place the 1 / 3 of the mixture of salt, sugar, add the meat and fill with remaining mixture. Refrigerate for a week Remove the meat, wipe and brush with marathosporo, place it in a pot and cover with the lees. Leave it that way for 2 weeks when turning - when you remove it and hang it in a cool, well ventilated area for 2-3 weeks, depending on the weather PS I would like here to thank the Estate Silver for the provision of lees for this recipe"

Xekokalismeno is some cut of pork (I don't know which), arathosporo is fennel seeds, Vinsanto is a sweet white wine, "lee" is a mistranslation of οινολάσπες which is some kind of wine I think.

So, I didn't find any exact recipe. My skill in Greek is limited too. If you want more information, try to conatct "Yannis" on this forum. He is Greek.

I hope this helped, anyway.

[Fatmat]

hi Andre,

many thanks for putting in so much effort. I think that I almost have enough to have a go with.

Looks like the basic recipe is to salt some pork tenderloin for a few days, soak in wine/fennel seeds and then smoke and dry cure.

The thing I don't get is why you salt the meat and then soak it in wine for so long. It seems to me that the wine would draw the salt back out. Any thoughts anybody? I'd be tempted to make a salt/wine brine instead but that may screw up something crucial that my small and inexperienced brain doesn't get.

Also, does anyone know what effect the wine would have on the curing process? I.e, what will it do the meat?

Finally, would anyone consider adding Prague 2 to the mix?

[Yannis]

Unfortunately I have not even tasted lountza so I can't suggest a recipe.

"xekokalismeno" means without bones, the cut used for lountza Ι think that is the same with lonzino. Oινολάσπες is the mud that accumulate to the bottom of wine barrels.

[grisell]

Thanks, Yannis! That explains why the author thanked the wine estate for providing the stuff. I wonder what fuction the sediment serves in the curing?

As for your questions, Fatmat, I don't know how immersion in red wine would affect the curing process. I would do like this in order to save the expensive wine and not dilute the salt/cure too much:

Dry cure the meat. After half the curing time, when most of the meat juices have poured off, cover it with fennel or coriander and wrap it in a cheesecloth soaked in red wine, put back in the bag and continue curing. Then continue as normal (washing, fermenting, drying etc).

[grisell]

...the cut used for lountza Ι think that is the same with lonzino.
[---]

It's easy to imagine that the name "lountza" is the Greek version of the Italian name "lonzino", or the other way around(?).

[Yannis]

You are correct André, after a little googling it seems that lonzino is also called lonza which is probably where lountza came from.

[grisell]

Here's my ongoing lountza project. I found recipes with both fennel and coriander seeds. Since I couldn't make up my mind and like both, I used both. I increased the amount of salt and cure to compensate for the dilution caused by the wine:

1,284 g pork loin
45 g sea salt including cure (nitrite+nitrate)
½ g ascorbic acid
1 tsp black pepper, crushed
50/50 Fennel and coriander seeds, crushed

The meat was not trimmed. Rubbed with salt, pepper, acid and cure. Cured for three weeks at nearly 0 C. Then rolled in a generous amount of fennel and coriander seeds, wrapped in a kitchen towel, soaked with 200 ml of red wine and marinated at nearly 0 C for six days.

Washed and sprayed with a salami mould solution (It's difficult and expensive to get a suitable casing here). Incubated for four days @20 C and 90+ % RH. Dried @12 C and 80% RH (still in progress). Ready at 35-40% weight loss.

The meat.


Prepared for curing.


Rolled in coriander and fennel.


Unwrapped after marinating.


Prepared for incubation.


After incubation.


After two weeks of drying. 22% weight loss.

[salumi512]

I was wondering how pork loin would do without a casing. I look forward to the results after drying. I also wondered if it was common to put the introduced mold directly on the muscle as opposed to spraying it on a casing. So, thanks for taking on this project

[JLPicard]

What ratio of Sea Salt to Nitrite to Nitrate did you use?

[grisell]

It's my own mix:

97.5% Maldon Sea Salt
2.0% sodium nitrate, food grade
0.5% sodium nitrite, food grade

(Percentages by weight)

[tommix]

I am drying a pork loin for Lonzino and just put it in a stockinette and hung it. After I put it in the stockinette I dipped it in a mold culture, after about 4 weeks it looks like grisell's.

[JLPicard]

A local market just had a good sale on Pork Loins for $1.69 a pound, this recipe sounds good. It's got the spices I love to use in my sausages. I don't have any culture though, could I just use a purchased salami casing with mold on it for a starter? No need for any cure to be injected?

[grisell]

A local market just had a good sale on Pork Loins for $1.69 a pound, this recipe sounds good. It's got the spices I love to use in my sausages. I don't have any culture though, could I just use a purchased salami casing with mold on it for a starter? No need for any cure to be injected?

Yes, salami with mould works for me, so I can't see why it wouldn't work for you.

No, I didn't inject any cure.

Please note that I can't give any guarantees for the recipe. It's not ready yet, so I haven't tasted it, but it looks promising.

[grisell]

Update: The lountza is now ready. After 3½ weeks of drying, it's down 30% in weight and looks like this:



I'm very satisfied with the result. I have never tasted lountza before, so I really don't have anything to compare with.

It's very tender, possibly because of the marinating. The taste is well balanced, with a hint of pepper and wine. The coriander/fennel doesn't strike through as I thought it would. Definitely worth remaking.