Porky & Friends Italian Artisan Charcuterie & Food Experience

KING PORK…from farm to fork

Where: Learning Center IRVEA – Bagno di Reggio Emilia –Via Lasagni 29 – ITALY
When: 29th-30th September, 1st-2nd-3rd October 2014

A week dedicated to discovering the secrets of rearing, butchering and artisan curing of meats, that has made the Italian Salumi tradition a success.

Italian cured meats, smallgoods or charcuterie are known as Salumi and include delicacies such as:
Prosciutto, Speck, Culatello, Salame, Salsiccia, Cotechino, Porchetta…
…all a gastronomic success story.

Participants will study and learn hands on, the art of preparing and transforming pork meat, how to correctly use sea salt, spices and natural flavours, learn the secrets of tying and curing to create the “Works of Art” known as Porchetta, Prosciutto, Culatello, Rolled Pancetta, Salame and Salsiccia.

Each day’s programme will cover the curing and cooking techniques of different meat cuts: baking, grilling, griddling and boiling for a sumptuous spread which will be served and enjoyed as lunch at the end of each day’s session. These delicacies will be accompanied by daily baked homemade bread, local craft beer and Lambrusco wine.

Besides the programme schedule you can try your hand at making fresh bread and pasta. Local experts in the art of “Sfoglia Emiliana”, a fresh egg pasta, will run a practical course for those interested in making Lasagne sheets, Emilian Tagliatelle, Tortelli and Tortellini, followed by a tasting dinner of the products made.

The course is aimed at those who want to improve their knowledge of the “King Pork”: livestock farmers, butchers, food products processors, retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, those who produce and season salumi, chefs, and people who want to start artisan production of HIGH QUALITY salumi, mass retail quality control inspection staff, cookery and salumi technique enthusiasts.

PROGRAMME
The programme is 5 days of theory and practical tuition and will cover all the different phases from livestock rearing to matching food and wine, with particular focus on:
• the importance of choice of breed, diet and rearing methods to obtain the best meat. Fat as a healthy food. The various aspects of animal welfare;
• food safety, conservation techniques, hygiene and health standards in slaughterhouses and meat curing companies;
• various meat cutting techniques according to the various uses: curing (Prosciutto and Culatello);homemade, for food service in restaurants or retail,
• times, temperatures, curing and tying techniques of different cured meats in casings;
• cooking techniques and systems of various pork cuts;
• sensory analysis evaluation techniques for fresh and cured product.

Contact information:
IRVEA – Istituto per la Ricerca e la Valorizzazione delle Eccellenze Agroalimentari
ph. +39 011 195 67 218 – fax +39 0743 77 86 08
mob. +39 338 53 94 663 – +39 347 49 13 924
E-mail: segreteria@irvea.org