Ingredients
What to buy
- Tiroler Speck PGI
- a whole piece rather than pre-sliced
- if you can
- or good sliced Speck
- see the note on production
To serve on a board
- dark rye bread
- or Schüttelbrot, the crisp flatbread
- mountain cheese
- Bergkäse or Graukäse
- pickled gherkins
- horseradish, freshly grated
- butter
- spring onions or radishes
To cook with
- diced Speck for Gröstl
- or for Knödel, the bread dumplings
- or rendered into a dressing
To drink
- a local red, such as Zweigelt
- or beer
- or a glass of schnapps
Directions
- Slice it very thinly. Slice across the grain. Speck is firm and quite salty. Use a long sharp knife. Trim it away as you slice.
- Keep it for flavouring soup. It is safe to eat as it is because of the curing.
- Keep it refrigerated once cut. Wrap the cut face. It makes no recommendation about anyone’s diet.
- Grate it fresh if you can. Grate it in a well-ventilated place.
- Keep your face away. You often need no added fat at all. Start it in a cold pan and let it render.
- Taste any dish before adding salt. A whole piece keeps months in a cool place. Wrap it in cloth rather than plastic.
- Wrap the cut face and refrigerate it. It keeps several weeks. Discard the piece if you see it.
Technique
- The atlas gives no method for making Speck, deliberately. It holds a protected geographical indication granted in 1996 that defines where and how it is made; home curing uses nitrite salts measured in small precise quantities to prevent botulism, and cold smoking and drying need controlled temperature and humidity. Getting any of that wrong spoils the meat or worse. What the atlas gives instead is how it is produced, how to buy it and how to eat it.
- Speck exists as it does because the Tyrol is damp alpine country where pure air-drying was risky. Farmers both salted and lightly smoked the ham, which is the combination that defines it — it sits between Italian prosciutto and German smoked ham.
- Buy a whole piece rather than pre-sliced if you can. It keeps for months in a cool place wrapped in cloth, while sliced Speck dries within days.
- Slice it very thinly, across the grain, with a long sharp knife. Speck is firm and quite salty — thick slices are chewy and overwhelming, thin ones melt.
- Keep the rind and put it in a pot of lentils or soup. It gives a great deal and is not waste.
- Wrap a whole piece in cloth, not plastic, which makes it sweat. A little white surface mould is normal and wipes off with a vinegar-dipped cloth; coloured or fuzzy mould is not, and means discarding the piece.
- Start diced Speck in a cold pan and let it render. It gives out a great deal of fat, so you often need no added fat at all — and taste before salting anything it goes into.
- Cured raw meats carry a small listeria and toxoplasma risk, and public health advice in several countries suggests caution in pregnancy. Cooking it through removes that. Cured meats also contain nitrites and processed meat has documented health associations, with public health bodies advising moderation — the atlas records that as fact and makes no dietary recommendation.
- Grate horseradish in a well-ventilated place with your face away. The fumes sting the eyes far more than onion does.
- The Tyrol spans Austria and northern Italy, and Speck is made on both sides — Südtiroler Speck holds its own protection.
- Schüttelbrot, the hard thin rye flatbread broken by hand, is the traditional partner on a Brettljause board.
Substitutions
- Any good cold-smoked cured ham substitutes for eating, without the juniper character.
- Pancetta or streaky bacon substitute in cooked dishes such as Gröstl.
- Südtiroler Speck from the Italian side is the closest equivalent.
- Prosciutto substitutes on a board, though it is unsmoked.
- Bergkäse or any hard alpine cheese partners it.
- Rye bread replaces Schüttelbrot where the flatbread is unavailable.
Variations
- Südtiroler Speck from South Tyrol holds its own protected designation.
- Brettljause is the cold board on which it is usually served.
- Speckknödel are bread dumplings studded with diced Speck.
- Tiroler Gröstl fries it with potato and onion under a fried egg.
- Schinkenspeck and other Austrian cured hams are made by related methods.
- Verhackert is the Styrian spread made from finely chopped cured pork fat.
History
Tyrolean farmers both salted and lightly smoked ham because the damp alpine air made pure air-drying risky; Tiroler Speck won PGI protection in 1996.
Frequently asked questions
What is Tiroler Speck?
Tiroler Speck is a charcuterie & cured from Austria: cold-smoked cured pork, sliced thin with bread and mountain cheese. Tyrolean farmers both salted and lightly smoked ham because the damp alpine air made pure air-drying risky; Tiroler Speck won PGI protection in 1996.
How long does Tiroler Speck take to make?
Tiroler Speck takes 10 minutes of preparation and none of cooking. The recipe makes buy 100 g per person. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Tiroler Speck?
Yes, within limits. Any good cold-smoked cured ham substitutes for eating, without the juniper character. Pancetta or streaky bacon substitute in cooked dishes such as Gröstl. Südtiroler Speck from the Italian side is the closest equivalent. Prosciutto substitutes on a board, though it is unsmoked. Bergkäse or any hard alpine cheese partners it. Rye bread replaces Schüttelbrot where the flatbread is unavailable.
What is the most important thing to get right in Tiroler Speck?
Taste any dish before adding salt. A whole piece keeps months in a cool place. Wrap it in cloth rather than plastic.
