Salumi in America

By ruhlman | Published: June 24, 2010

On our trip to Italy, Brian Polcyn and I saw a lot of new cuts we weren't familiar with, so as soon as we returned, we made plans to break down a couple of pigs Italian style, bringing in chef Jay Denham, who was recently back from five months staging in Italy.  We wanted to see how he broke a half animal into primals and we also wanted to learn the culatello cut.  Jay had spent many weeks staging at Massimo Spigaroli's operation, learning this technique for producing what some consider to be the finest version of prosciutto di Parma there is.

From left, I, Brian and Jay tasting salumi

Jay and Brian arrived Tuesday evening and we started with a salumi tasting ...

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Misleading Food Labels

By ruhlman | Published: June 21, 2010

It's our own fault. We alone are responsible for our own stupidity. We can't expect big business to have our best interests in mind, nor expect the media to stop ringing the all-in-one Salt-Is-Bad! Fat-Is-Bad! alarm bells. Big companies want to sell us their goods any way they can. If they can take advantage of our confusion about how to eat, they will, rubbing their hands and chuckling with delight.  The New York Times editorial page can rail against such practices (as it did elegantly here), but that's not going to change anything. What will change big business is the consumer.  But not until we start paying attention, not until we get smart. Here's a start: Don't believe any claims you read on packages, period, even seemingly objective ones like the above, just stating a ...

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Father’s Day

By ruhlman | Published: June 20, 2010

Rip & Mike #2 As Christopher Buckley writes in his extraordinary memoir, Losing Mum and Pup, this indeed is the happiest story there is, that I know at least: The grandfather dies.  The father dies.  The son dies. I'm midway through this story and pray it continues as told.  I miss my dad more than words can say.  I am lucky on too many counts to name, but chief by far among my gifts was to to be born to Rip Ruhlman.  The photo above is from the summer of '68 I'm guessing; I would have been five, he not yet thirty. Best wishes to all dads today, but best wishes especially to dads who wish they could thank their father but can't, to all children young and old who miss their dads. Rip Ruhlman 9/24/38 - 8/09/08 Click to Continue Reading

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How To Make Sausage

By ruhlman | Published: June 17, 2010

Earlier this spring, my high school pal, JD, called and asked if I wanted to make sausage on Saturday. It's much easier with a few folks to spread out the work, but I wasn't prepared for something like 50 pounds of sausage. Nor did I expect JD to film the event.  But, ever the overachiever, he did. Our other pal, Mac, the bearded one, joined us. So please forgive the Saturday shadow and numerous chins and the unscripted nature of the video and my limited editing skills, but do follow the basic steps to awesome sausage.  There are five, follow them all, keep your meat really cold, and you'll have great links (or skip step 5 and make patties or use it loose).  It's summer grilling season and there's ...

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Classic Hollandaise Sauce

By ruhlman | Published: June 14, 2010

Making a traditional Hollandaise, yolks in a vinegar reduction (all photos by Donna).

[Please note additional thoughts following comments here and on Twitter] Elise emailed a couple weeks ago to ask if I'd posted on Hollandaise.  She'd posted the blender version, first popularized by Craig Claiborne in the 1970s in The New York Times, and wanted to link for contrast to an old-school version.  The blender version is unquestionably a no-brainer and results in a delicious Hollandaise-style sauce, a lemony yolky butter, thin enough to pour. A classical French Hollandaise sauce is an emulsified butter sauce that is almost like a mayonnaise, nearly that thick, and, as I was taught it, includes an additional flavoring step, a vinegar reduction.  It's considered difficult and temperamental but it's neither, as long as you pay attention and don't let it ...

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