Grapes into wine, milk into cheese, meat into charcuterie; techniques for making perishable food last longer have evolved into rich culinary traditions that produce some of the world’s most delicious foods.

Join award-winning Chef Dave Mottershall and travel & food blogger Ayngelina Brogan for a hands-on introduction to the art and science of charcuterie: the transformation of fresh meats through curing, salting, smoking and drying.

This class will focus on whole-muscle curing, covering classic cured pancetta and pork spalla (shoulder), but will also discuss smoking, aging salumis and many other aspects of charcuterie. A charcuterie board with preserves and crostinis will be served to illustrate and taste different kinds of products and processes.

Participants will create their own pancetta in class, starting with making spice blends for brining, and will take the pancetta home to finish curing.

There will also be discussion around how to select, smoke and cure meats and salamis, setting up a curing room, wet cures vs dry cures for bacon and how to continue curing meat safely and confidently. There will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions, and handouts covering the recipes and processes covered in class will be available to take home.

$40 +HST

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Chef Dave Mottershall is most notably known for his 7-­year stint on Prince Edward Island, opening Terre Rouge, a restaurant featuring locally sourced and sustainable ingredients. He was named PEI Chef of the Year in 2012 and winner of the 2013 Taste Our Island Award for his dedication to supporting the local food movement. He returned to Toronto six months ago and found a home in Riverside, a neighbourhood where he sees great potential for the best food in the city.
Dave’s passion for cooking is evident in his Instagram account where he is affectionately known as Chef_Rouge, and on Facebook where his adventures in charcuterie can be found on his Salumerume page.

Ayngelina Brogan travels and eats and photographs and then writes all about it on her award-winning blog at http://www.baconismagic.ca, as well as on Facebook at Bacon is Magic, and on Twitter @ayngelina