Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (MontrealMagic)

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 00:12:34 GMT

scrumptiouschef

Thanks for the headsup on that.

We consulted a local Turk and she reckoned that when the Ottomans ran that part of the world they probably dropped the Za'atar off in the countries as they conquered them one by one.

Sounds like an Anthony Bourdain No Reservations inspired opinion. Judging by the fact that the word they themselves use is Arabic not Turkish is evidence enough for me that it was not a Turkish creation. If you ask the Turks theyll say they created everything.

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (scrumptiouschef)

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:26:11 GMT

Za'atar has a 1000 fathers each claiming primacy.

I do like the Gary, Indiana premise though.

Did you ever read that guy's counterculture lit from way back when. He was great.

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (pancakes80)

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 05:41:49 GMT

Good luck on that one. Maybe a Polish guy from Gary, Indiana first discovered it. Yea, I think that's what happened.

Anyway, I've always associated Za'atar with Lebanese or Israeli/Palestinian food. I don't even think I've seen it on the menu at a Turkish restaurant for that matter. The local Lebanese market sells Za'atar bread though.

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (scrumptiouschef)

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:27:45 GMT

Thanks for the headsup on that.

We consulted a local Turk and she reckoned that when the Ottomans ran that part of the world they probably dropped the Za'atar off in the countries as they conquered them one by one.

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (MontrealMagic)

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 22:50:57 GMT

Za'atar (: زَعْتَر‎ za‘tar is a generic name for a family of related Middle Eastern from the (), (), () and (). It is also the name for a made from the dried herb(s), mixed together with seeds, , and often salt, as well as other . Used in , both the herb and spice mixture are popular throughout the .

It is not Turkish so please dont give credit where it isnt due. Zatar has no link with any NATIONALITY. It is widespread throughout the region and considering the name you used comes from Arabic and not Turkish should be proof enough it is not Turkish.

I grew up eating it for breakfast with Labneh which is yogurt and in a variety of baked goods.

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (rebeltruce)

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 09:17:11 GMT

Nope....the rest of your curing process is spot on for homemade bacon! I do recommend you send me a large sample though....LMAO!

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (scrumptiouschef)

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 20:49:02 GMT

sure did, thanks for the tip, any other recs?

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (rebeltruce)

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 18:30:14 GMT

scrumptiouschef

during the life of the hatch chile belly we reseasoned each time
further intel research indicated this was not necessary
each belly was dynamite

So does that mean you took my advice from the Hatch thread?

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (scrumptiouschef)

Sun, 06 Nov 2011 11:45:42 GMT

chewingthefat

scrumptiouschef, the Za'atar, did you use the brand that has sesame seeds included in it? I'm going to try to recreate your tasty sounding Turkish bacon!
Thanks,
Tom

Yep,it has sesame seeds in it. Savory Spice Shop makes their Za'atar from scratch in the shop. It is incredible. There are plenty commercial versions in good supermarkets across the US.

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (pnwchef)

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:25:36 GMT

Why not brine it ???????? the method your using is the same method as for Dry aging/ salt cure. If your goal is to dry the Pork belly, you may way to look at a small clip on fan for the refer, it will speed up the process .......pnwc

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (chewingthefat)

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 16:05:48 GMT

scrumptiouschef, the Za'atar, did you use the brand that has sesame seeds included in it? I'm going to try to recreate your tasty sounding Turkish bacon!
Thanks,
Tom

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (scrumptiouschef)

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 13:49:07 GMT

during the life of the hatch chile belly we reseasoned each time
further intel research indicated this was not necessary
each belly was dynamite

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (chewingthefat)

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 11:29:08 GMT

9 days, do you reseason every time you flip it?

Re:Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (JRPfeff)

Sat, 05 Nov 2011 10:18:56 GMT

If you don't show pictures, it never happened.

Please post pictures here. I don't care to chase links.

Make Your Own Bacon: Home Curing A Pork Belly-Turkish Style (scrumptiouschef)

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 21:42:26 GMT

Ingredients
1 pork belly, we used an 11.80 lb Berkshire
1/2 c. Salt, Kosher
4 t. Salt, pink, curing
1/2 c. Za'atar, an insanely delicious Turkish seasoning blend. We bought ours at Savory Spice shop on w. 6th st. near downtown Austin Texas
Method
* Sprinkle ingredients all over belly-be thorough,start with pink salt
* Put belly in fridge in large pan
* Every 24 hours flip belly over
* Do this for 9 days
* Rinse seasonings off belly with cold water
* Let dry for 24 hours
* Build fire in backyard, smoke belly with favorite wood for 4 hours
* Return belly to fridge
* Let sit overnight
Now it's time to slice your bacon. Hopefully you have access to an electric slicing machine. We used the one at work so it came out nice and slick looking. If you don't have access, try to barter with a local deli, offer them some homemade bacon if they'll slice it for you.

Back story plus pic of glorious pile of fresh sliced homemade bacon:http://www.scrumptiousche...Project?adminview=true
and the tale of our first pork belly project http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/tm.aspx?m=671394