Walked on a mile or so,
And then they rested on a rock
Conveniently low:
And all the little Oysters stood
And waited in a row.
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings."
The Walrus and The Carpenter --Lewis Carroll
(from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)
An so thus another journey begins, this one has been long in the making, probably since before the start of the Suffolk ham nay; probably lost in the mists and veil of time (my time; not your time) as things progress there are times that one can see (and to some, taste) the end product but getting there the particular taste – texture – utilizing all the senses seem just out of your grasp
The quiet is shattered and the music on the radio is disjointed by what at time seems to be the most annoying sound --- the telephone!
Now some people might find this strange that a person who owns a business to think that the most annoying sound --- is the telephone, problem being that when one is a one man
show and you are up to your armpits in a ‘messy’ production (mixing black pudding 200 lbs worth) and just finished answering said telephone less than five minutes ago ----- what would your reaction be
One ringy ding; two ringy ding; three ringy dig, oh heck now I need to and pee, four ringy dings -- my dilemma
Well I washed my hands and arms (you try mixing 50 lb batches without getting any pud on your arms) barely making it to the bathroom (hands in water do not react well when one needs to go) finally make it to the telephone which by now had stopped ringing, thankfully being as poor as we are we still live in a so called ‘modern’ time where we can afford the answering machine – digit poised the stab the button wondering who had call this time,
Thus the journey began as so many others have;
The phone call was from a very good friend who is a Chef at a very prestigious establishment down town on the harbour front letting me know that they will be changing their menu this coming week and that they would like to change the Steak and Guinness pies (mine) that they currently have on the menu to a classic Ploughman’s lunch and more importantly getting back to doing an Irish ham
I took time out of my busy schedule last Monday to meet up with my friend the Chef as well as his boss to go over things as well as take samples down to them. The meeting seems at times to go the same way; mind you I have been dealing with these clients for more than sixteen years so nothing is new although at times I do wonder if I still have the edge.
The pork pies were a great hit with just one minor complaint
observation that could they av more meat in them and yes we will pay more for them – there’s 90gm of meat in there already and this is an half pound pork pie
Next came the sample of Capocollo I brought along; thinly sliced samples was passed around with further more sliced one presumes to make sure that they like it but no it was because that they love the fresh clean taste; question; How much have you got? – About six left and about this big as I spread my hands like a well seasoned fisherman. I’ll take them all was the reply, are you making more was the next query
With all the niceties out of the way it was time to discuss the ham situation
As soon as I got the phone call about looking for a menu change to an Irish ham my mind went into overdrive with all the possibilities of making a signature ham for the client, the thought process was along the lines of the Suffolk ham which has been well received by many but now I needed to step it up a notch. Being a one man show it seems that one can get into a rut and not having anyone around sure complicates the juices flowing so one has to reach out and touch someone
Email sent to a very good friend with the subject line reading – Help Please
Just had a phone call from one of my clients (http://www.tcclub.com/ ), Paul the chef at the Lions pub is changing the menu and looking for an Irish ham --- any suggestions on flavour profile?
In less than fifteen minutes a reply was back from vagreys with thoughts and information I might never have dreamed about, and so it is a labour of love and collaboration between the two of us. The flavour profile coming from vagreys with slight tweaking by me and hands on at my end
As I explained to Paul and his boss that this would be done the old way and will take at least 50 days to do, I explained the process along with the flavour profile we was working on for the end product. Both are very happy with what we are doing and Paul’s boss who is the Executive Chef has committed to the program of a minimum of two hams a week
So now the journey begins – well it actually started a week ago before the meet up with this
I will keep on updating this as we go along with the good as well as the bad (hoping not too much) once again this is not just my project although I will be hands on it is as much vagreys as he has shown/steered me in the right direction A personal thank you is in order -- thank you my friend.
when one can take the basis and add to it therefore creating a wonderful and delicious eating extravaganza
which should give me time to get it fermented and the drying process stated before I leave