Let’s be clear – I rarely assault pigs…

…but I do salt them in the pursuit of deliciously cured pigginess.  People talk about charcuterie being an art, well if it is then I’m a part time painter and decorator attempting my first canvas, learning how the paint flows, experimenting with various brushes and generally making a mess, but having a lot of fun at the same time and even coming up with a surprising masterpiece or two.

My studio consists of a cupboard in my spare room with meat hanging in it.  It’s not very high tech…it’s just a cupboard.  It’s not a climate controlled bespoke curing room…it really is just a cupboard.  Still, it seems to work and that’s the point – trying things, seeing if they work and being dead chuffed when they do.

But just as art isn’t all about painting, food isn’t all about charcuterie (actually, it is at the moment).  I love to explore the countless other joys of cooking and eating and that’s exactly what I intend to do in My Food Life which will likely be updated more frequently than the Curing section because curing tends to be a bit of work and a lot of waiting.  I’ll also be reviewing restaurants and anything else foodie-wise that takes my interest and hopefully yours.  Of course no food blog would be complete without sharing some of my favourite recipes, curing and otherwise.

The Matis tribe of Western Brazil use this as their standard greeting:

“What have you eaten?”

So…what have you eaten…?