Philadelphia, PA—In Philly, Prosciutto is a food group; for the rest of the world, prosciutto is a traditional aspect of charcuterie in French cooking. It is cured meat that is then cured and matured further by drying in the air, leaving an excellent, intensely flavored butchery product. Sliced thinly, prosciutto is a great lunch or part of a late autumn dinner, served with good, country-style solid mustard, dried fruits, and black bread.
Most prosciutto is made with pork. The recipe below uses mallard duck breast. Moulard is a duck raised for foie gras, and its meat is typically more flavorful than domestic pekin while not as gamy as wild mallard. The magret is the mallard duck's lobe, or half breast (each duck will have two magnets or one entire breast).
Moulard Magret Prosciutto
Salt/Spice Cure:
Ratio: This is an essential part of any cured meat recipe. The salt ratio is critical, and the spice and garlic ratio, which follows, is less so. Weigh your duck breasts and salt very carefully.
Per pound of Magret: (i.e., salt per weight of duck meat)
7 OZ salt per pound of duck magret
Per Magret: (i.e., curing spices per unit of duck magret)
Ten juniper berries
½ bay leaf, crushed
1 tsp coriander seed
Ten black peppercorns
One clove garlic
Crush juniper, bay leaf, coriander, peppercorns, and garlic to medium-fine in a mortar, ar, and pestle. Add salt and mix thoroughly.
For each Magret, place large square plastic wrap on the counter. Place Magret on the wrap and place ½ of the mixture on Magret, the skin side, spreading so it coats evenly. Turn over and repeat with the flesh side. Roll wrap up tightly sea, edges, and sealer to weekly need. Cure under refrigeration for 24 hours.
Air Cure:
Wipe cure off meat – do not rinse. Place Magret on a large square of chea cheesecloth and wrap cheesecloth around Magret, ensuring the cheesecloth is roughly the meat of the cover. Place twine around Magret and secure Magret as if it were a roast, leaving a 6" piece of twine free at one end. Hang in the dry cooler at 38F for two weeks. Remove from cheesecloth, wrap in plastic, and cut in paper-thin slices at service, freezing if needed to obtain thin cuts (the freezing helps to firm up the duck breast, making it easier to slice thinly).
