Charcuterie

  

Charcuterie is a type of cooking devoted to prepared meats such as bacon, ham, sausage, and of pork products.

Q. Why Was It Invented?

 A.  It was invented to keep foods from spoiling before refrigerators were invented.

  My papa made salt cured charcuterie known as bacon (it was good).  Salt cured has four purposes.

Q. What Are The Four Purposes?

 A.  The four purposes are: 1.osmosis-movement of water in food  2. dehydration-pulls out the water in foods. 3. fermentation 4. and denaturing.                           

          

  I inerviewed my papa about the bacon.  Here are the Qs. and the As.

Question: What part of the pig is your bacon made from?
Made from the underside of the pig from the outer skin to 1 and a half to 2 inches.  It is called "Pork Belly".  I used a 2 pound piece.

Question: What did you put on it?

I put it in a zip lock one gallon size bag and added: 

1 and 1/4 table spoon of Kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon of "pink salt" This a preservative to kill any harmful bacteria

1/8 cup of pure maple syrup

I then placed it in the refrigerator for 8 to 9 days.  I kneaded it and turned it daily.

This is the time the salt draws out the water and the maple flavor is pulled into the belly.

Upon removing it from the bag toss the bags contents down the drain.  Thoroughly rinse off any remaining 

salt residue. Place back into fridge for 24 hours uncovered.

Question: How long did you cook it?

180 degrees for about 6 hours or until the internal temperature is 150 degrees.

Question: Why did you want to make your own bacon?

To control the ingredients and to be able to make a sweet bacon and a savory bacon.

Question: What's your favorite way to eat bacon?

fried in the fry pan but not crispy - I like to taste the meat and the fat and I don't want all the fat to be cooked off.

Crepes

     Crepes are just really, really thin pancakes.

How The Crepe And a Normal Pancake Different

     The crepe is like I said, they are just thin pancakes and the regular pancake is a lot more fatter.  Unlike the pancake you can put anything on it and in it.  For example, on a crepe you can put vegetables on it and even though you can put vegetables on a regular pancake, it won't really make sense.  Most people put maple syrup or blueberries only on pancakes.

Where They Are From

     Crepes are from France.

Where They Are Sold

     Crepes are sold at a creperie.   Wow  try saying that 50 times fast sorry off topic.  They can be bought as fast food or at a restaurant.  

What I Had On And In My Crepes

     I had a crepe with an egg in the middle.I also had one with nutella.  My mom had one with spinach and mushrooms.
 

Times I Had Crepes

     We had crepes in Paris.  Also, my sister had crepes for her birthday instead of cake. 

Lasagna

  I love lasagna, it is my favorite food.  I only like meat lasagna which my dad makes.  I don't like veggie lasagna which my mom makes,and seafood lasagna which my Grandma makes.  I like the taste of the sauce and the meat.  To tell you the truth I barely have lasagna because my dad doesn't really make it a lot.  When I asked him why he doesn't make lasagna a lot, he said, "It's a lot of work.  Why are you asking?"  I like the "Garfield" show and we both like lasagna.  It's one of my favorite shows and one of my favorite foods.

meat lasagna

yum 

Food In The Philippines

Last month I went to the Philippines  with my dad. Here are some of the foods I ate:

1. I ate a lot of rice and I mean a lot of rice. I ate it in every meal of the day. One time for breakfast, my grandma made me bacon, eggs, and rice.  Here I would have bacon, eggs, and maybe with slices of potatoes. 

2. fish balls (and it's what you think.)

3. pigs skin- it's really, really crunchy

4. pigs feet- it tastes like chicken

Every day me and my dad went to Starbucks.  My dad got coffee and I got banana bread with orange juice 
Another reason we went to Starbucks is there's WiFi and for the air conditioning because its dying hot there.

Bacon, Eggs, and Rice

Fish Balls- I didn't really like these.  It tasted like ravioli filled with fish.

This is me trying the pig skin.  Very crunchy.

Pigs feet-it taste like chicken and it looks like chicken wings!

The Brazilian Restaurant

On Friday I went to a Brazilian  restaurant.   Their bathrooms were fancy because it had mouth wash, floss, and even a man handing out paper towels.   I had 1 piece of bread, 1 peace of chocolate mouse cake which I shard with my dad, and everything else I ate was meat.   For those who have not been to a Brazilian restaurant here is how it works you have a card with a green side that means yes give me the meat and the card has a red side that means no do not give me the meat.   Some men come around with meat on a sword.   they either slice the meat or they push the meat off.   If you are a carnivore then a Brazilian restaurant is the place for you.

Clam Pizza

Clam pizza tastes like regular pizza. They both have the same shape.  On the menu it (the clam pizza) is on the special menu because the clams are fresh.  Because it has clams it tastes more salty.  That's how clam pizza and a regular pizza are different.

Sundae School

If you ever go to Cape Cod you should go to Sundae School in Orleans.  I wish on Sundays they gave away free sundaes.  I recommend lemon sorbet and mint chocolate chip with a chocolate dipped waffle cone.  My mom said it is an unappetizing combination.  Do you think it's unappetizing?  One time me and my mom snuck out and got ice cream.  On the way home I told my mom that ice cream with just her and me is better than ice cream with everyone.