2 – making soppressata
prosciutto and salsicciasunrise – 7:41, sunset – 5:19
9 hours and 38 minutes of daylight
click to read the making salami posts

 
The pic is of my dad and Rick. The legs and one of the butt pieces have been deboned and they are now cutting the meat into strips so that it can be fed into the grinder. I had expected to buy the prosciutto leg already deboned, but it’s sold with the bone and you either do it yourself or pay the butcher to debone it. (My dad has been butchering meat since he was a young man. There is no way he was paying someone to do something he can do.) Also, my dad is the last hold-out still making his prosciutto with the bone. All the other immigrants have switched to a boneless prosciutto. Leaving the bone means that the prosciutto will need a year to dry and cure. The boneless prosciutto will be ready to eat in about 9 months.

The bones next to my dad came from the legs and the one butt. In Italy, these bones along with some of the fat would be boiled down and made into a pâté called frisoli was made. My dad would leave a bit more meat on the bones insuring a more meaty frisoli. I just put the bones in a bag and brought them out to the outside garbage.

My mother worried that we were eating late, put together a plate of meats and cheeses for us to snack on. The plate has last years prosciutto and soppressata. Also, there are four wine glasses, filled with my dad’s homemade wine, on shelves and ledges just outside the picture. You can’t have prosciutto, soppressata and cheese without vino.

BTW, this is the basement laundry room.