Home-made garlic pork sausages, smoked and hung to dry. They are made at the December pig slaughter and hung in the attic or the smokehouse to keep through the winter.
It is a raw-meat cure cold-smoked and dried over weeks, where the nitrite dose and the cold of a Moldovan winter attic are the safeguards; the December timing is part of the method, not tradition for its own sake.
What goes into it
- pork shoulder and fat
- salt and curing salt
- garlic, in quantity
- black pepper, thyme and paprika
- natural casings
How it is made
Minced pork and fat are mixed with a great deal of garlic, salt and pepper, stuffed into casings and linked. They are cold-smoked over fruitwood or beech for several days and then hung in a cold attic to dry for weeks, or else packed under lard once smoked.
How long it takes: three to six weeks after the December slaughter
How it is eaten
Grilled or fried with mămăligă and pickles, or sliced thin as they are.
History
Made at the December pig slaughter and hung in the attic or smokehouse to keep through the winter.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cârnați de casă?
Cârnați de casă is a charcuterie & cured from Moldova: home-made garlic pork sausages, smoked and hung to dry. Made at the December pig slaughter and hung in the attic or smokehouse to keep through the winter.
How is Cârnați de casă made?
Minced pork and fat are mixed with a great deal of garlic, salt and pepper, stuffed into casings and linked. They are cold-smoked over fruitwood or beech for several days and then hung in a cold attic to dry for weeks, or else packed under lard once smoked. It takes three to six weeks after the December slaughter.
Can I make Cârnați de casă at home?
No, and the atlas gives no method for it. It is a raw-meat cure cold-smoked and dried over weeks, where the nitrite dose and the cold of a Moldovan winter attic are the safeguards; the December timing is part of the method, not tradition for its own sake.
What goes into Cârnați de casă?
Pork shoulder and fat, salt and curing salt, garlic, in quantity, black pepper, thyme and paprika, natural casings.
How is Cârnați de casă eaten?
Grilled or fried with mămăligă and pickles, or sliced thin as they are.
