Cold-Smoked Boar Coppa

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Before our scientists came up with the Big Bang theory, most Hindus believed that the universe emanates from a navel of Vishnu, who reclines on his cosmic serpent as he begets all creation. After all matter is extended, it starts returning back to Vishnu, as passing through the event horizon into a black hole. And then everything is repeated…

Yet, during the eons of intermediate period, the benevolent Vishnu does not just pass time with coffee and The Wall Street Journal, amusing himself with our grandiose pretentions amidst total unawareness of insignificance of our miniscule existence in the cold and endless cosmos. Vishnu actually cares about the creation so much, that from time to time he comes down to save the world. One of such incarnations was Krishna. But in another, Vishnu became a boar who saved the earth goddess Bhu.

Despite the play with vegetarianism in certain segments during certain periods in Hindu society, they were on something…

If Source of Creation is to incarnate into a living being, a Boar is on the short-list of possible candidates. Everything about one tells any wise individual that he\she is in the presence of divine…What else could taste so great?

Yet, if a boar itself so great, how do we find the words for singing praises for his neck that goes for coppa? Oh…the endless limitations of our language.

This cold-smoked coppa came from a young boar, just over a year of age. I got it from a farmer who, sadly, had to slaughter most of his pigs after shutting down the farm. Or, at least, that’s the story that I recived…

He was not sure about the smell of the meat from the boar in the long ran; I was cautious and purchased only this neck. Knowing the results, I should have bought the whole animal.

Ingredients and Process:

For one neck (100%), in the general direction of moderated spicy sweetness: 2.55% sea salt, 0.25% cure#2, 0.25% turbinado sugar, 0.05% cardamom, 1.1% Dried Thai Chili (hereafter, DTC),  2 cinnamon sticks, splash of Rebel Yell bourbon. The neck was vacuum packed and kept in fridge for 9 days in these spices. Then washed, dried, rested overnight, dusted with combination of DTC with cardamom, staffed into collagen casing, cold-smoked – pecan with little apple – for three days with some rest. Then the coppa went to the Curing Chamber for 15 weeks. Sliced some; tried; took photo; sliced the rest. This coppa was gone in two days…

At the end, even with his humble boar’s neck, once you start devouring the slices of this quintessence of tangy goodness, one’s mind starts wondering. Could it be anything less than dry-cured neck of Vishnu himself? After all, the generosity of divine is reflected in its multiplicity of incarnate forms…

Before the cold-smokeing:

At the end of the dry-curing, at the center: