Dried ramp leaf rubas needed, a couple tablespoons
Dry Rub
1.5oz(6 Tbsp) sweet paprika
3grams (1 tsp) black pepperpreferably whole corns
14grams (2 Tbsp) cumin seed
7grams (1 Tbsp) fennel seed
14grams (2 Tbsp) coriander seed
Instructions
Rub
Grind the whole spices and mix with the paprika.
Curing the meat
Mix the salt and pink salt.
Pound the meat all over with a mallet to give it the shape of a rectangle that can be rolled up like a jelly roll to make for attractive slicing. Trim the meat as needed, if you have to cut or butterfly with a knife. The jelly roll aspect of the meat is part of it's attractiveness.
Wearing gloves, rub the meat with the salts. Rub the cure in well, massaging it in to ensure proper seasoning. Let sit in the cure for 5 days wrapped in a bag, or vacuum sealed using the marinate setting, turning occasionally to distribute the juices.
Cooking / Smoking
After 5 days, wipe the meat completely dry, rub with the spice rub all over if using, then roll into a tight log like a jelly roll with butchers twine and smoke at 225 F for 3 hours. Chill
You can also cook and brown the salo like bacon, but know that it will be slightly more salty.
Serving
Serve the salo sliced paper thin with pieces of toasted rye bread as part of a larger meal or as a snack.
Notes
On the cureI used an all-salt cure for the salo since that was the most traditional example I could find. This means that it may taste a little more salty than bacon for some people, especially those people sensitive to salt. If you or people you'll be serving are sensitive to salt, consider using a salt and sugar combination cure instead of only salt.Here's an amount that will work--just don't serve it to traditionalists. Although more salt is in the ratio below (that will cure 2-4 lbs of meat) the cure is rinsed off of the meat before aging and it less salty than the basic recipe above.
6 oz dark brown sugar
3 oz kosher salt or fine salt
½ teaspoon pink salt / sodium nitrite (available from butcherpacker.com)