The best things happen when you are interested in Salami and cured meats. I was volunteering at a church pancake breakfast and what happened you ask?
The manager pulled out some wild boar, I mixed up some spices they had in the kitchen, he mixed up a dipping sauce and the kitchen staff at this pancake breakfast had a really tasty appetizer.
Then when we were done the manager (Greg) came by the house with my friend Dan and we tasted my first attempt at a Canadian Bacon. Wow is all I can say.
I cured it in a brown sugar, rosemary, juniper berry, fennel mixture for 12 days, then soaked it for about 15 minutes in water, dried it off and smoked it at 100 degrees for 2 hours, 140 for 2 more and 160 for another hour.
It has the consistency of prosciutto, nicely smoked but not too much, good amount of salt but again, it came out better than I expected. Another excellent addition to the repertoire!