A Basque joke…

There was a fire at a Basque restaurant, but there was only one door out of the building. Many people were injured in the stampede. The moral of this story: Don’t put all your Basques in one exit.

I tell this joke because an interesting piece of trivia is that Boise, Idaho has a large Basque population.  It’s about the only thing remotely interesting about the city, so there it is.

Our afternoon of charcuterie went very well, but was exhausting.  Having never butchered, chopped and ground that much meat at one time, I found it to be an intensely physical process.  Still, this is not something to undertake in small batches.

I took many photos on my digital camera, but you won’t see them until this weekend.  I had to send for another cable to download them, as I can’t find the one that came with the camera.  Here is an iPhone photo from one of the participants. 

It’s me and my friend Jim (who is in a wheelchair) debating the merits of variations on a recipe between two cookbooks.  The bowl in front of me is filled with sea salt, juniper berries, rosemary, and crushed peppercorns.  We coat the meat in this mixture, vacuum seal it for several days, then rinse off the salt, rub the meat in wine and hang it to age.  When the weight is reduced about 30%, you’re ready to start using it.

Interesting piece of trivia about Jim – he’s a patent attorney and also a magician.  His spinal injury was 15 years ago in a freak accident where a 1,500 lb. crate fell on him.