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NUTRITION: IT’S ALL GOOD
Add fresh flavor
to favorite foods
F
resh (or dried) herbs, and spices, are an often
overlooked way to add flavor to your dishes
without adding salt (if you are watching your
sodium intake) or extra calories (if you’re watching
those, too).
During the early days of the pandemic, when
people were working at home more, cooking became
a creative outlet for many. People experimented with
recipes using combinations of herbs and spices to
liven up tried and true recipes, and to try new and dif-
ferent ones.
Herbs are relatively easy to grow. In Northeastern
Oregon, most herbs, such as basil, chives and oregano,
can be grown from seed. Though basil, a Mediterra-
nean herb requiring warm weather, will not winter
over, other herbs such as chives, oregano, thyme,
parsley, and dill will either self-seed and return each
year, or simply die back and return in the spring.
Many types of mint, such as peppermint, also grow
well in our area. However, mint, if not contained, can
become invasive and take over wherever it’s planted,
which is OK if you like mint. Rosemary and tarragon
seem to do well as starts from a nursery.
A few herbs lend themselves well to kitchen win-
dowsill gardens or grown from seed on a kitchen
countertop. Basil, marjoram, oregano, savory and
chives can be successfully started from seed and
grown in pots even when it is cold and snowy outside,
providing a fresh source for pizza toppings or inclu-
sion in a savory winter stew.
When cooking with herbs, dried herbs are used at a
ratio of one teaspoon dried to approximately three tea-
spoons (approximately one tablespoon) of fresh herbs.
If using fresh herbs, depending on the herb, and the
flavor you are looking for (subtle versus robust), deter-
mines when you add the herb. With delicate herbs
such as basil, herbs should be added a minute or two
before serving. This will allow the flavor of the herb to
come through without diminishing it due to the heat of
prolonged cooking.
Stronger herbs, such as rosemary, can be added 20
minutes or so, prior to the end of the cooking time.
Dried herbs are usually added at the beginning of the
recipe. The recipe will also indicate when to add the
herbs. An herb sachet called a bouquet garni allows
control of the time the herbs are in the dish, since
you can remove the sachet whenever you want, and it
contains all the herbs in one place, which saves time
looking for all those separate herbs to pull them out.
Herbs and spices can be used in savory dishes (i.e.,
soups, stews, egg dishes) or sweet dishes (i.e., mint in
cookies or cakes, and lavender in cookies).
Dried herbs can be purchased in bulk. Buying a
small amount when you want to try something new is
a practical and economical approach. Bulk herbs tend
to be stronger in flavor than those in small bottles in
the spice section of the grocery store due to the higher
turnover in volume. When buying fresh herbs, look for
bright green leaves and stems. Avoid wilted, yellow
or brown leaves, which indicates the herbs are old and
past their prime.
Store dried herbs in a cool, dark location away
from direct heat or light, which will diminish the
flavor. Dried herbs will retain their flavor for one to
three years. Smell dried herbs which have been stored
for a length of time to help determine the potency of
flavor. Wash fresh herbs just before using. Remove
leaves from woody stems, such as rosemary and
thyme, discarding the stems. Chop the leaves before
adding the herbs to the dish.
Spices range from the common (cinnamon, nutmeg,
ginger and cloves) to the less common (cardamom,
saffron and coriander) to name a few. Spices also
include pepper (red, black, white and pink), curry,
cumin, paprika and turmeric. Saffron comes from the
red stamens of an autumn flowering purple crocus. It
is native to Eurasia and because it requires an enor-
mous amount of the red saffron threads to produce a
small amount of the spice, and it is harvested by hand.
Saffron is considered the most expensive spice in the
world, according to Wikipedia.
Herbs and spices have been used for medicinal and
healing purposes for millennia. For example, the spice
ginger has been used successfully to relieve the nausea
that accompanies motion and morning sickness. Sage,
an herb common to the Mediterranean and known
since the Middle Ages, contains Vitamin K, which is
important for bone health. Oregano, often called the
“pizza” herb, contains Vitamins A, C and E and min-
erals zinc, magnesium, iron, calcium, copper, potas-
sium, manganese, and niacin. Some people also find
lavender is helpful as a sleep aid and for relaxation.
Each herb and spice combination seems to claim a
piece of the world’s culinary turf. For example, Asian
cooking often uses combinations of basil, lemongrass
and cinnamon. Indian dishes rely on curry, paprika,
cardamom and cumin. Italian cooking uses herbs
such as oregano, basil and rosemary. In Mexican
cooking you’ll find cooks using cumin, chili pep-
pers, Mexican oregano and cilantro. And in Greece,
cooks rely on allspice, cloves, mint, dill and oregano
to flavor their food.
Did you know you can make your own recipes
of some common seasoning blends? For example, if
you are out of pumpkin pie spice blend you can com-
bine two tablespoons of cinnamon, one tablespoon of
ginger, 1 1/2 teaspoons of nutmeg and 1 1/2 teaspoons
of cloves. Mix all the ingredients together and store
in an airtight container. Use the amount called for in
a pumpkin pie recipe. This recipe makes four table-
spoons of spice blend. This recipe and others can be
found on the food hero website.
For more recipes and information on using herbs
and spices go to www.foodhero.org.
Living
B
Tuesday, January 18, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Learning from a prosciutto maestro
By GRETCHEN McKAY
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
PITTSBURGH — Mike
Masciantonio has taught the
art of making prosciutto at
the American Italian Club in
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, for
more than a decade. Which
is kind of funny, because
he never liked prosciutto
much as a kid, preferring
the dried Italian sausages
his maternal grandfather,
Angelo Bufalini, learned to
make in Italy’s Lazio region
before immigrating to the
U.S. in 1920.
“My mother used to buy
it,” Masciantonio, 60, of
Center, recalled of the dry-
cured ham that is sold in
papery, delicate slivers, and
today has something of a cult
following. “But it was the
cheap stuff that wasn’t good.
Too much salt, and I’m not a
salt fan.”
It wasn’t until he tried a
bite of friend Tony Cafarel-
li’s homemade sopressata
that he realized the error of
his ways.
Here’s how he recalls his
conversion from naysayer
to prosciutto devotee and
maestro:
Masciantonio’s older
brother, Joe, owns a concrete
block plant in Ambridge,
Pennsylvania. One day about
20 years ago, Cafarelli, a
block layer, happened to be
there at lunchtime and asked
if it was OK if he ate his
packed lunch on site. “And
he breaks out this stick of
sopressata,” Masciantonio
remembered. “While he was
eating it, he made my brother
try it.” He tried it too.
The Italian dry-cured
pork salami was so good
Masciantonio begged
Cafarelli to teach him how to
make it. He happily agreed,
and at a sausage-making ses-
sion a while later, brought
out a tray of the other “good
stuff” he’d made that year.
It included some prosciutto
he’d perfected over the years
by watching (and assisting)
members of his own
extended Italian family.
Masciantonio initially
refused to try it, remem-
bering the prosciutto of
his childhood. That made
his friend mad. When
he reluctantly agreed to
sample a piece after some
browbeating, boy, was he
surprised!
“It tasted like candy com-
pared to what I was used to,”
he said. He decided then and
there he had to learn to make
it himself.
Soon he, too, was handing
out homemade prosciutto at
house parties and gatherings
at the club. Everyone enjoyed
it so much that club presi-
dent Danny David, a child-
hood friend who graduated a
year behind Masciantonio at
Aliquippa High School, sug-
gested he teach a class on the
process.
“We were just looking
for things to do, and to cele-
brate and keep alive Italian
traditions and culture,” said
David. “We decided this
is something worthwhile
to teach people so it stays
alive.”
Fifteen people signed up
that first year, and it’s grown
every year since, with some
classes drawing as many as
40 wanna-be charcutiers.
Most, Masciantonio said,
have successfully produced
delicate cured meat full of
wonderful flavor. He hopes
to make even more magic
happen when class No. 12
(2020 was a no-go due to
COVID-19) kicks off in the
club’s party room Jan. 15,
with additional classes in
March and November.
“We want to make sure
the tradition is maintained,”
he said.
Knife skills required
As a food writer who
loves all things Italian, I’ve
Alexandra Wimley/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
Joseph Almonte, Sr., of Raccoon Township, Pennsylvania, helps his son Joseph Almonte, Jr., of Center Town-
ship, during a prosciutto-making class at the American Italian Club in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania on Saturday,
Jan. 23, 2021. The class has been happening annually since 2009 to celebrate Italian traditions and teach
students to cure a ham.
pondered the class for years.
I finally took the plunge
last January with 15 others.
The experience let loose an
alphabet soup of emotions
— anxiety, disgust, fear,
uncertainty and, finally, sur-
prise and elation at a job
well done.
Italian for ham, pro-
sciutto has been around
since at least pre-Roman
times, at first out of neces-
sity (salt-curing and air-
drying pork was a way of
preserving meat) and, later,
for its exceptional taste. If
you don’t count air and time,
it requires only two ingre-
dients: the hind leg of a pig
and salt.
Italy’s most famous
prosciutto is made from
specially selected, heri-
tage-breed pigs in Parma in
the Emilia-Romagna region
and San Daniele in Friuli
Venezia Giulia. It’s aged for
at least 400 days and up to
three years to create a deli-
cate, sweet flavor that melts
on the tongue. As a result,
it’s expensive: Prosciutto
Di Parma runs $24.95 per
pound at Pennsylvania Mac-
aroni. But the good news is
even a little bit can go quite
a long way.
The American Italian
Club’s process is a little
quicker, with a start-to-finish
of nine months (though
experienced students often
allow their hams to age
longer.)
The $100 class fee
includes the spices neces-
sary for curing and a 20- to
25-pound fresh ham from
Giant Eagle (thankfully,
without the trotter!). Par-
ticipants must bring a very
sharp filet knife and a large
plastic container to transport
their ham.
“And you also might
want to bring some Band-
Aids,” David told me with
a chuckle when I signed up,
for accidental finger nicks
or cuts during the deboning
process. “You do have to be
careful, and we emphasize
that.”
He also stressed that
students need a cool (45
degrees) and dry place to
cure the ham for a six-week
period after the initial ses-
sion. It needs to be away
from fumes or odors such as
car exhaust. After six weeks,
the ham can hang in any
area that has a temperature
of 60-70 degrees.
While making prosciutto
is easier than you might
think, even for a novice, you
do have to be fairly comfort-
able with a knife. Patience
is also essential, as the meat
must be carved slowly and
deliberately.
My first mistake was
bringing the wrong knife
(a boning knife ordered on
Amazon) to the initial class
on Jan. 23, 2021. That made
it a challenge to trim the
ham to remove the hip bone,
expose some meat and create
a ridge to contain the cure.
Alexandra Wimley/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
Instructor Mike Masciantonio, of the American Italian Club in Aliquip-
pa, Pennsylvania, demonstrates to attendees how to remove the bone
from a pig leg during a prosciutto-making class, Saturday, Jan. 23,
2021, at the club.
Luckily, I was at a table
with some practiced hands,
including those of Fernando
Fiumara of Raccoon Town-
ship, who’s been making
prosciutto for about 20
years. He not only lent me
his boning knife but did
much of the carving with/
for me. He stuck his finger
into the ball-and-socket
joint that connects the aitch-
bone to the leg bone, wig-
gled it around and carefully
cut through the tendon to
separate it from the meat.
“You want to make as
few cuts as possible,” he
kept reminding me. Every
time you make a cut, that’s
somewhere salt has to make
its way into.
Then we prepped our
hams for the curing process
by trimming back the skin
to expose some of the meat,
after which we were sent
on our merry ways with a
curing mix of sugar and salt
and instructions on how to
apply it (three times) over
the next few weeks. (The
salt draws out the moisture.)
I then pressed it for 21
days between two plastic
cutting boards, weighed
down with a cinder block,
to mold the ham into the
familiar oblong shape you
see at a deli.
Though I fretted over
whether my ham was get-
ting flat enough, at least I
had the perfect place for the
curing and pressing pro-
cess: an unheated office in
what was once our garage.
Mold = gold
Our second class on
March 13 was short and
sweet: Preparing our flat-
tened hams for hanging.
After spraying the
pressed ham with red wine
to clean off any mold and
make it sticky, we covered
the exposed meat — as well
as every nook and cranny
— with a pungent mix of
black and red pepper flakes.
It’s not so much for flavor as
a bug deterrent. Should a fly
lay eggs on your ham, well,
you’re going to get maggots.
As Masciantonio put it,
“Nature is a son of a gun!”
“You want to make sure
to get all the entry points,”
he instructed, especially
around the ball joint and the
creases.
As we patted the spicy
blend on with gloved
hands, he recalled how one
unlucky student’s prosciutto
fell prey to a mouse that ate
it from the inside out. “So
pack that up real good.”
Yikes, and no kidding.
Afterwards, we whittled
a hole through the shank
with a screwdriver for the
hanging string, pulled one
through and held our hams
in the air to test if the string
could handle the weight. As
the meat air-dries, it will
eventually become tender.
Then came a litany
of instructions. The ham
was to be hung in a room
between 50 and 60 degrees
with at least 60% humidity.
A sticky fly trap would
quell any worries about
maggots. And the white
fluffy mold that would soon
start growing on it? Not to
worry.
“Your ham isn’t going to
look very appetizing during
the aging process,” Mas-
ciantonio said, “but if you
don’t have the mold, you
don’t get the gold!”
As I headed out the door
with my pressed, peppered
ham and an extra container
of pepper mix to replace any
that might fall off during
the aging process, I couldn’t
help but wonder: What had I
gotten myself into?
See, Prosciutto/Page B2