BREAD BUFFET

INTERNATIONAL COLD MEATS

Objective

To identify the various types of cold  meats & cold cuts their storage and about the platter presentation

What is cold meat ???

Cold meat  are precooked /cured meat, often sausages or meat loaves. That are sliced and usually served cold on sandwiches or on party trays cold cuts also known as lunch meat , luncheon meats, sandwiches meats , cooked meats ,sliced meats, cold meats ,deli meats.

TYPES OF COLD MEATS AND THEIR STORAGE

Chorizo

Ò  Chorizo is a cured Spanish sausage made from pork, garlic, black pepper and smoked paprika, which gives it a red colour.

Ò  Chorizo can be eaten raw but is better cooked. It’s available at the deli counter or in packets in the chilled section.

Ò  Tips for Use: Slice or chop chorizo and serve it cold as a starter, or pan-fry and enjoy as a tapas-style dish. Add to omelettes, soups

Ò  How to store: Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to five days. For pre-packaged chorizo, follow the use-by date and  once opened, eat within five days.

Pancetta

Ò  The Italian version of bacon, pancetta comes from pork belly. It’s dry cured in salt and spices such as nutmeg, pepper and fennel, and left to age for at least three months.

Ò  Sliced pancetta is available at the deli counter or  in a 100g packet from the chilled  section.

Ò  Tips for use: Coarsely chop pancetta and add it to homemade pasta sauces, casseroles and soups You can also use it wherever you’d normally use bacon.

Ò  How to store: Keep in the fridge. Once opened, use within four days.

Prosciutto

•      Prosciutto is similar to pancetta, but contains less fat as it comes from the pork leg.

•      After being salted, the ham is left to age in a cold climate for nine to 18 months and sometimes for three years.

•      In Italy, prosciutto is called prosciutto   crudo, which means “raw ham”. Sliced or shaved

              prosciutto is available from the deli counter.

•      Tips for use: Prosciutto is best uncooked. rrange slices over a cooked pizza,or wrap it around  grissini or wedges of rockmelon as part of an  antipasto platter.

•      How to store: Keep prosciutto in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.

   

Ham off the bone

•      Ham is cured pork leg. To preserve it for long periods, pork was traditionally dry cured – rubbed with a salt mixture then smoked and left to slowly air-dry and mature.

•      Today, it’s usually wet cured, which means it’s treated with a salt and sugar based solution before cooking. This faster process makes it moister and  less salty, but it has a shorter shelf life.

•      Sliced or shaved ham off the bone is  available from the deli counter.

•      Tips for use: Add to sandwiches and salads, or pizzas, quiche and pasta dishes.

•      How to store: Place in an airtight container  and store in the fridge for up to two days.

     

Pepperoni

•      A favourite pizza topping, pepperoni is a spicy cured sausage that’s made from pork or beef, or a mixture of both meats, with added pepper and spices.

•      Prepackaged pepperoni sausages are available  from the deli section.

•      Tips for use: Thinly slice pepperoni and use as a topping for bought pizza bases, or finely chop  then pan-fry and add to pastas, pies or frittatas.

•      How to store: Wrap in plastic wrap and store  the fridge for up to two weeks.

Mortadella

•      Mortadella is a type of cooked salami and the largest of all the sausages.

•      It’s made from a mixture of minced pork, pork fat and sometimes peppercorns, olives or pistachios.

•      Mortadella is traditionally cut into paper-thin slices and enjoyed as part of an antipasto platter.

•      Sliced or shaved plain, pepper and green olive  mortadella are available from the deli counter.

•      Tips for use: Enjoy on its own, wrapped around  grissini, or on a slice of crusty  bread.

•      How to store: Place in an airtight container   and store in the fridge for up to two  days.

Chicken roll

•      A budget-friendly alternative to chicken breast supreme, chicken roll is made from a mixture of chicken meat and seasonings that’s pressed into shape before being baked.

•       Sliced chicken roll is available from the deli counter.

•      Tips for use: Add chicken roll slices to sandwiches, or coarsely chop and use in salads or as a topping  for bought pizza bases.

•      How to store: Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.

Turkey breast

•      Turkey breast is 100 per cent turkey breast meat that has been roasted in the  oven.

•      Sliced or shaved turkey breast is available from the deli counter.

•      Tips for use: Add sliced or shaved turkey breast to sandwiches and wraps.  Alternatively, chop  or slice turkey breast and use in salads, canapés  or on  pizzas.

•      How to store: Place in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to two days

Salami

•      Salami is a type of cured sausage made from pork, beef or veal that has been       flavoured with garlic and various herbs and spices.

•      The raw sausage goes through stages of salting, drying, and sometimes smoking and fermentation, to become a hard sausage.

•      The word salami comes from the Italian word sale, which means salt, but cured sausages are  enjoyed all over Europe.

•      Tips for use: Add salami to pizzas, or use in  sandwiches, pastas and canapés.

•      How to store: Place in an airtight container   and store in the fridge for up to two days.

Methods of preserving of coldmeats

Salting

Ò  Salting is the preservation of food with dry edible salt.It is related to pickling in general  and more specifically to brining (preparing food with brine, that is, salty water) and is one form of curing.

Ò  It is one of the oldest methods of  preserving food,and two historically  significant salt-cured foods are salted  fish (usually dried and salted cod or  salted herring) and salt-cured meat (such as bacon). Vegetables such as runner beans and cabbage are also       often preserved in this manner

Curing

Ò  Curing is any of various food preservation and flavoring processes of foods such as meat, fish and vegetables, by the addition of combinations of salt, nitrates, nitrites, or sugar, with the aim of drawing moisture out of the food by the process of osmosis.

      WET CURING

Ò  This process does away with rubs in favor of water as a lubricating agent. The two most popular mixtures are brine – basic salt and water – and sweet pickle, in which sugar is added to the mix.

Ò  Submersion – Here, the meat is skinneda and then weighed down in a concoction for up to a week. It’s also a method that requires less effort than dry curing.

Ò   Injections – There are special tools that will allow for the curing mixture to be injected directly into the meat itself. Many chefs prefer this method as it allows them to bypass barriers like the skin and muscles.

 Smoking

Ò  Smoking is the process of flavoring, browning, cooking, or preserving food by exposing it to smoke from burning or smoldering material, most often wood. Meats and fish are the most common smoked foods, though cheeses, vegetables

Ò  TYPES OF SMOKING

Hot smoking:

Ò  Hot smoking exposes the foods to smoke and heat in a controlled environment. Like coldsmoking, the item is hung first to develop a pellicle, then smoked. Although foods that have been hot smoked are often reheated or cooked

 Coldsmoking:

Ò  Smokehouse temperatures for cold smoking are typically done between 20 to 30 °C (68 to86 °F).In this temperature range, foods take on a smoked flavor, but remain relatively moist. Cold smoking does not cook foods. Meats should be fully cured before cold smoking.Cold smoking can be used as a flavor enhancer for items such as chicken breasts, beef, pork chops, salmon, scallops, and steak.

BINDERS

Ò  Binders allow processors to manipulate various cuts of meat into affordable, delicious and innovative protein options.

     FOR EXAMPLE

Ò  A common application is to bind two large beef tenderloins together. Tenderloins have a thick end and a pointed end, and when laid on topof one another in opposite directions, these enzymes enable the two pieces tobond together so that when sliced, the filets are uniform in size.

GARNISHES

Ò  Small chili or sweet peppers

Ò  Olives or cheese cubes with toothpicks

Ò  Herbs, such as basil, cilantro or flat-leafed parsley

Ò  Cherry tomatoes, green onions or radishes with their tops still attached

Ò  Edible flowers, such as chive blossoms or nasturtiums

Coldmeat  Platter Presentations

ITALIAN COLD MEATS

Ò  Genoa Salami: it is made from pork  but may also contain  beef. It is seasoned with salt, black /white pepper corns ,fennel seeds & red or white wine.  

Ò  Speck:  Type of Prosciutto that is usually cut thin and served with bread.  The flavor is robust and the texture a bit chewy.  Speck is also a smoked product.

Ò  Bresaola: it is a air dried salted beef made from top round its may be drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice or balsamic vinegar .

FRENCH COLD MEAT

Ò  COPPA:It is actually very similar in taste to prosciutto however unlike bayonne ham coppa is made from the pig’shoulder/neck as opposed to the back leg. It’s seasoned with red/white wine,garlic& variety of herbs.

Ò  JAMBON: cooked and cured hams are frequently seen in French charcuterie, but different regions are known for different types. Jambon de Paris is a three-muscle, lean, low-fat ham wrapped in its own skin and cooked in its own juices. It's flavored with nothing but salt

Ò  BOUDIN:Boudin means "pudding," but these savory sausages are made from ground, spiced meat packed in natural casings and then boiled, poached, or blanched. 

GERMAN HAMS

Ò  Hams are one of Germany’s most favorite meat products, both the air-dried, cured.

Ò  Dark Smoked Ham Dark smoked cooked ham. Ham off the bone, smoked over beech wood chips.

Ò  Light Smoked Ham  Light smoked ham. A real traditional German cooked ham. Smoked over beech wood and very mild.

Ò  Black Forest Ham  Cured only with sea salt and matured for 10-12 months. This lean, air-dried ham is sold in wafer-thin slices. Very mild.

CONCLUSION

Ò  Precooked or cured meat which can be served cold and hot, it takes very less time to cook.