How Do You Like Your Meat?

Murray's Cheese

Salumi Class 101
Greenwich Village 254 Bleecker St. (between 6th and 7th)

So this past Wednesday night was an event that Mr. Broad and I were looking forward to for quite some time. We went to a salumi tasting class at Murray's in Greenwich Village. For those not familiar with Murray's Cheese- it's one of these old timer NYC shops (has since expanded) that has been around since 1940. They now specialize in cheeses from all over and cooked and cured meats with lots of other fun specialty foods in between (olive oils, nuts, etc).

Mr. Broad and I went to this much anticipated class from a recommendation from our new friends Mike and Susan. Not much arm twisting was involved in this one. There were about 15 people in our class and Mike came prepared with his Charcuterie book.
Oh it was game time.

Numerous questions were asked (mainly by our corner)--

What are your thoughts on nitrates in meat?

How many days are necessary to age cured meat?

Can you please go into the types of casing used for sausages?
(I have the answers to all of these questions if you are ohso interested).

Actually they were so in tune to the class that several people came up to Mike and Mr. Broad afterwards asking them if they were opening up a store, or doing this at home! Seriously?! What apartment do YOU live in? (And can we have an application?) Actually one of the people we talked to was from the New York magazine who is interested in doing a piece on the class/enthusiastics. Mike got her card so will keep you posted if he gets interviewed!

This is what we tasted.

And this is what it really was.

Also involved were many glasses of champagne and red wine. So the verdict-- AWESOME. Eight different tastings of either pig, cow, or duck. We had one of those tasting sheets to fill out (similar to what you get at a wine tasting), however looking back, my notes reflect "So Good" and "Brown." Man I am good at this.

I am not going to replay what they all tasted like- just a couple.

-Porchetta Primata Pig- words like herby, rosemary, yummy were written on my sheet.

-La Quercia Lardo- the one that may make others squirm. It's lard. Yes. Fat. Suprising, not my first time having lardo. Being with Mr. Broad, things just don't surprise you anymore. They wrapped it up around a breadstick which was honestly a nice pairing. So how does fat taste? Like you'd expect. Amazing. Smooth and a bit like butter. Clearly eaten in small quantities but if you go to Mario Batali's restaurant he has Lardo Pizza on it. Because everything is better with lardo...

Close up of the lardo:

-Surry Farms Surryano- this one was from Virginia so already I'm a little partial. Smelled a lot like bacon and had a similar texture to... lox! Clearly not the official flavor of the pig (although what a controversy that would be!) but it helped me remember it.

-Other highlights- one that was made with truffle oil, another that was spicy with cumin/chili powder flavor, and a pate.

Review:
Murray's Salumi tasting class. So. much. fun. This was their first class they have offered on Salumi. They liberally keep your glasses fill of wine/champagne while you are tasting different types of meat. Plus with little tastes of bread, nuts, and pickles to supplement it was definitely worth the coast. Oh and we also got quite an education in cured and cooked meats. Did you know that pate started out as peasant food as a way to preserve left over meat?

There is anticipation of cured meats becoming more approachable over the next years. Looks like we're ahead of the curve. Mr. Broad and Mike are now discussing how much a whole pig costs. Who's excited!
Rating: A