Duck Prosciutto

Guess what - I'm curing some duck prosciutto in my fridge. It's for this little side project I'm working on called Le Petit Bar.

I'm learning all I can about charcuterie outside of taking a course in the cookery, which I plan to do sometime this year. I'm pleasantly surprised to be able to report that it is not all as hard as it does seem. Some of it is very manageable - making sausages and pates, rillets and terrines - and some of it is unattainable in my current home kitchen set up - dry-cured sausages and salumi for example.

So far I've attempted a simple chicken liver pate that turned out very well. And now I've got this duck prosciutto hanging in my fridge.

I need a few more days to finish curing it before I can unwrap it from it's cheesecloth, thinly slice it, photograph it and show it to you. But here are the basic steps. You won't believe how easy it is:

1. You need roughly as much kosher salt (by weight - grams) as you have duck breast.

2. In a non-reactive container (I used a glass baking dish), spread about half of the salt, covering the entire bottom of the dish. If you use a very large dish you'll need more salt than I've suggested, of course.

3. Place the washed and patted-dry duck breast(s) skin side down in the salt in the dish. Make sure if you are using more than one breast they are not touching each other.

4. Spread the rest of the salt over the duck breasts, ensuring they are both completely covered. Cover with plastic warp and refrigerate for 24 hours. The duck will become slightly firmer and darker in colour.

5. After the 24 hours of curing, rinse the duck breasts very well and pat completely dry with clean kitchen towel. Discard the salt used to cure the breasts. Season the duck with a little pepper, crushed coriander, juniper berries, orange peel... whatever you think will taste yummy.

6. Wrap each breast in one layer of cheese cloth and tie the ends. Hang from one of the shelves in your refrigerator for seven days before testing to see if ready. The duck will be quite firm, if it's still squishy, leave to dry even longer.