Olympia Provisions

Cured Meats and Tales from an American Charcuterie [A Cookbook]

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A rigorous exploration of what American charcuterie is today from Portland’s top-notch meat company, featuring in-depth techniques for crafting cured meats, recipes from the company’s two restaurants, and essays revealing the history and personalities behind the brand.

Portland’s Olympia Provisions began as Oregon’s first USDA-certified salumeria, but it has grown into a mini-empire, with two bustling restaurants and charcuterie shipping out daily to all fifty states. In his debut cookbook, salumist and co-owner Elias Cairo dives deep into his distinctly American charcuterie, offering step-by-step recipes for confits, pâtés, sausages, salami, and more. But that is only the beginning. Writer Meredith Erickson takes you beyond cured meat, exploring how Cairo’s proud Greek-American upbringing, Swiss cooking adventures, and intense love affair with the outdoors have all contributed to Olympia Provisions’ singular—and delicious—point of view. With recipes from the restaurants, as well as extensive wine notes and nineteen frankfurter variations, Olympia Provisions redefines what American charcuterie can be.
Charcuterie Tools and Equipment

You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment and supplies to make charcuterie, but there are a few items, some essential, that will probably be unfamiliar to you. In most cases, these specialized tools will make your charcuterie making easier and ensure that your final product is safe and delicious. Any and all charcuterie materials—thermometers, casings, grinders, stuffers, smokers, smoking accessories, nets, seasoning, spices, scales—can be found at SausageMaker.com. 
digital scale

You will need a digital scale that is accurate up to .5 gram. It’s also ideal if the scale can work in both grams and ounces, and if you can zero it out after placing a bowl or other vessel on the scale.
dry box

To make fermented meats you will need a room or chamber that maintains 58°F (14°C) and 83 percent relative humidity, with a very slow airflow. More on this on page 118–19.
fermentation chamber

To make fermented meats you will need a room or chamber that can
be held at 73°F (23°C) and 95 percent relative humidity, with very little or no airflow. More on this on page 132.

grinder
There is something really rewarding about making a simple sausage
or pâté using a hand-grinder. But if I have a good amount of product
to make or am trying to make an emulsification, I like the ease of using an electric grinder. A KitchenAid mixer with a grinder attachment is a good starting place. It can handle a decent amount of meat. However, if you plan on making most of the recipes in this book, any one-horsepower grinder with a steel grinder head is the way to go. 

knives
You can do most of the tasks required in the charcuterie chapters of this book with two knives: a deboning knife and a sausage-making knife.
The Victorinox 6-inch (15-cm) deboning knife has a nice point
on the tip and not too much flex. It will help you easily get the meat off the bones and is great for removing sinew and unwanted fat. 

A sausage-making knife isn’t absolutely necessary, but it will make your life a bit easier. It looks like a small paring knife but has thin needlelike points on the opposite edge of the blade. You use this end to puncture your casing if you get any air in it during sausage making. 
pâté molds and slow-cooking vessels
I love a solid, good-looking pan with a tight-fitting lid for making
pâtés and slow-cooking meats. Le Creuset is my go-to brand; they aren’t cheap and they make you look fancy, but they are also just
damn fine cooking vessels.
pH meter
A pH meter measures the pH level of your product and provides the only way to know for sure whether or not you are making a safe fermented product. If you are making fermented meats, such as salami, this is a small investment to make for serious peace of mind. I use one from Hanna Instruments that is easy to calibrate and simple to read. 
smoker
You can smoke most of the meats in this book using a Weber grill or any charcoal grill with a lid. But if you plan on smoking more than once or twice a year, buy an electric smoker with a heating pad that will burn your chips without you having to stoke the coals. My smoker of choice is the Little Chief. 
stuffer
Although it’s possible to stuff sausages using a grinder, I personally don’t like to; it takes a bit of time to get the feel for it. For these
recipes, I would use a stand-up piston stuffer with a hand crank and
a capacity of up to 31⁄2 pounds (1.6 kg) of meat. Far and away the
best stuffer of this size is made by a German company called Dick. 

thermometer
Buy one that you can calibrate easily. At home, I use a standard
thermometer with an adjustable dial. I calibrate it by making an ice
and water slurry, then setting the proper temperature as necessary.
To calibrate your thermometer, in a large pot, mix ice and water in equal parts, then place the thermometer into the ice slurry; it should read 32°F (0°C). If it doesn’t, adjust your thermometer until it displays the correct temperature when stuck in the ice bath. 

water activity meter
This piece of equipment will let you know you are making a safe dry-cured or fermented product. A water activity meter measures the unbound water content of your product, and the more unbound water you remove from a dry-cured or fermented sausage, the better your chances of reducing spoilage. The industry standard is the Pawkit made by Decagon. This amazing meter will last for a lifetime of meat making. It is only used for dry-cured items.
“Being French, I know how important well-done charcuterie is to everyday life. Olympia Provisions is a wonderful journey through the simple yet complex recipes that have made it a craft throughout time. Visually stunning and conversationally informative with personal stories, notes, and tips, it is a tribute to charcuterie’s versatility and cultural prowess, and the restaurant recipes only make me hungry for more.”
—Daniel Boulud, chef/owner, The Dinex Group

“Portland’s Olympia Provisions has been making some of America’s best charcuterie for years. Elias Cairo is the man behind it, and he has written a book that explains not only how he has been creating this food, but the whys that make it so good. This is a great resource for anyone who wants to explore the craft of charcuterie, with fabulous recipes and gorgeous photography.”
—Michael Ruhlman, James Beard award–winning author of Ruhlman’s Twenty and Charcuterie

“Olympia Provisions is so much more than a charcuterie, just as its cookbook is so much more than simply a collection of recipes. It’s a love letter to the craft of curing, smoking, and fermenting; a passionate family story, rich in history, technique, humor, and lots of good food. Elias Cairo’s utter adoration for cured meat is not only inspiring, it’s infectious!”
—Gail Simmons, food expert, TV host, and author of Talking with My Mouth Full 
© Eric Wolfinger
Meredith Erickson has co-authored The Art of Living According to Joe BeefLe PigeonOlympia Provisions, Kristen Kish Cooking, and Claridge’s: The Cookbook. She is currently working on her own book, Alpine Cooking, and on The Frasca Cookbook. She has written for The New York TimesElle, Saveur, Condé Nast Traveler, and Lucky Peach. When not traveling, she can be found in Montreal, Quebec (with friends and family at Joe Beef). View titles by Meredith Erickson
01 Introduction: So Damn Greek It Hurts
Part 1: OP Charcuterie 10
chapter 1: Slow-Cooked Meats 25
27 Pork Rillettes and Rillons
31 Duck Confit and Rillettes 
33 Coppa di Testa
38 Capicola
chapter 2: Pâté and Forcemeat 43
45 Pork Pistachio Pâté
47 Pheasant and Prune Pâté
50 Pork Liver Mousse
53 Quail en Gelée
56 Rabbit, Apricot, and Tarragon Pâté
58 Rabbit Ballotine
62 Porchetta 
chapter 3: Fresh Sausage 69
73 Our Basic Sausage
77 Parsley Pecorino Sausage
80 Bratwurst
81 Breakfast Sausage
84 Italian Sausage with Lacinato Kale
88
Mortadella
92
Salami Cotto
chapter 4: The Smokehouse 95
98 Käsekrainer
101 OP Frankfurter (The O.G. Foot-Long)
106
Top 19 Frankfurter Specials 
108 Bacon on a Grill
111 Sweetheart Ham
113 OP Pepperettes 
chapter 5: Dry-Cured Meats 117
121 Pancetta
123 Coppa 
124 Lomo
chapter 6: Fermented, Dry-Cured
  Salami
127
135 Loukanika
140 Saucisson d'Arles 
143 Salami Etna
149 Chorizo Andalucía
153 Nduja
Intermission: Back to Wildhaus 158


Part 2: The Restaurants and Their Recipes 188
chapter 7: Brunch 193
194 The OP Benedict
196 Laser Potatoes
198 English Muffins
201 Flapjack Attack
202 Kielbasa Hash
203 Baked Eggs Peperonata
205 Sweet Cream Biscuits 
207 Bratwurst Gravy  
chapter 8: Lunch 210
211 Choucroute Garnie
212 Sauerkraut 
213 Chicories Salad
214
Winter Density Romaine
with Anchovy Vinaigrette
216
Cardoon Salad with Corona Beans
and Piave Cheese
217 Veggie Banh Mi
219 The OP Cured Meats Sandwich
220 OP Chorizo Sandwich
220 The Randy
222 Asparagus and Garlic Cream on Toast
223 Pork Pistachio Pâté Sandwich
224 Hand Pies
226 Garlic Almond Soup
227 Baby Octopus with Chickpeas and Aioli
228
Baked Shrimp, Chèvre, Chile Oil,
and Oregano
231 Steamed Manila Clams with Chorizo 




chapter 9: Wine Time 232
233 Cherry, Basil, and Chèvre Crostini
234 Chèvre Crostini
235 Smoked Trout Crostini
236 Skordalia and White Anchovies on Toast 
237 Persimmon Salad 
239 Octopus Terrine with Dill 
244
Arugula, Grapefruit, Pistachios,
and Ricotta Salata
247 Caponata Siciliana
chapter 10: Dinner 248
249 Steak Tartare
250 Roasted Radicchio with Crucolo
253 OP Northwest’s Rotisserie Chicken 
254 Schmaltz Potatoes
255 Chicken Jus
257 Whole Roasted Astoria Sardines 
258 Crepinette 
262 Braised Beef Short Ribs
264
Cherry Tomato, Cabbage, and Chowchow Salad
266 Roasted Halibut, Ham, and Mussel Salad
269 Chocolate Salami
272 Acknowledgments
274 Index

About

A rigorous exploration of what American charcuterie is today from Portland’s top-notch meat company, featuring in-depth techniques for crafting cured meats, recipes from the company’s two restaurants, and essays revealing the history and personalities behind the brand.

Portland’s Olympia Provisions began as Oregon’s first USDA-certified salumeria, but it has grown into a mini-empire, with two bustling restaurants and charcuterie shipping out daily to all fifty states. In his debut cookbook, salumist and co-owner Elias Cairo dives deep into his distinctly American charcuterie, offering step-by-step recipes for confits, pâtés, sausages, salami, and more. But that is only the beginning. Writer Meredith Erickson takes you beyond cured meat, exploring how Cairo’s proud Greek-American upbringing, Swiss cooking adventures, and intense love affair with the outdoors have all contributed to Olympia Provisions’ singular—and delicious—point of view. With recipes from the restaurants, as well as extensive wine notes and nineteen frankfurter variations, Olympia Provisions redefines what American charcuterie can be.

Excerpt

Charcuterie Tools and Equipment

You don’t need a lot of fancy equipment and supplies to make charcuterie, but there are a few items, some essential, that will probably be unfamiliar to you. In most cases, these specialized tools will make your charcuterie making easier and ensure that your final product is safe and delicious. Any and all charcuterie materials—thermometers, casings, grinders, stuffers, smokers, smoking accessories, nets, seasoning, spices, scales—can be found at SausageMaker.com. 
digital scale

You will need a digital scale that is accurate up to .5 gram. It’s also ideal if the scale can work in both grams and ounces, and if you can zero it out after placing a bowl or other vessel on the scale.
dry box

To make fermented meats you will need a room or chamber that maintains 58°F (14°C) and 83 percent relative humidity, with a very slow airflow. More on this on page 118–19.
fermentation chamber

To make fermented meats you will need a room or chamber that can
be held at 73°F (23°C) and 95 percent relative humidity, with very little or no airflow. More on this on page 132.

grinder
There is something really rewarding about making a simple sausage
or pâté using a hand-grinder. But if I have a good amount of product
to make or am trying to make an emulsification, I like the ease of using an electric grinder. A KitchenAid mixer with a grinder attachment is a good starting place. It can handle a decent amount of meat. However, if you plan on making most of the recipes in this book, any one-horsepower grinder with a steel grinder head is the way to go. 

knives
You can do most of the tasks required in the charcuterie chapters of this book with two knives: a deboning knife and a sausage-making knife.
The Victorinox 6-inch (15-cm) deboning knife has a nice point
on the tip and not too much flex. It will help you easily get the meat off the bones and is great for removing sinew and unwanted fat. 

A sausage-making knife isn’t absolutely necessary, but it will make your life a bit easier. It looks like a small paring knife but has thin needlelike points on the opposite edge of the blade. You use this end to puncture your casing if you get any air in it during sausage making. 
pâté molds and slow-cooking vessels
I love a solid, good-looking pan with a tight-fitting lid for making
pâtés and slow-cooking meats. Le Creuset is my go-to brand; they aren’t cheap and they make you look fancy, but they are also just
damn fine cooking vessels.
pH meter
A pH meter measures the pH level of your product and provides the only way to know for sure whether or not you are making a safe fermented product. If you are making fermented meats, such as salami, this is a small investment to make for serious peace of mind. I use one from Hanna Instruments that is easy to calibrate and simple to read. 
smoker
You can smoke most of the meats in this book using a Weber grill or any charcoal grill with a lid. But if you plan on smoking more than once or twice a year, buy an electric smoker with a heating pad that will burn your chips without you having to stoke the coals. My smoker of choice is the Little Chief. 
stuffer
Although it’s possible to stuff sausages using a grinder, I personally don’t like to; it takes a bit of time to get the feel for it. For these
recipes, I would use a stand-up piston stuffer with a hand crank and
a capacity of up to 31⁄2 pounds (1.6 kg) of meat. Far and away the
best stuffer of this size is made by a German company called Dick. 

thermometer
Buy one that you can calibrate easily. At home, I use a standard
thermometer with an adjustable dial. I calibrate it by making an ice
and water slurry, then setting the proper temperature as necessary.
To calibrate your thermometer, in a large pot, mix ice and water in equal parts, then place the thermometer into the ice slurry; it should read 32°F (0°C). If it doesn’t, adjust your thermometer until it displays the correct temperature when stuck in the ice bath. 

water activity meter
This piece of equipment will let you know you are making a safe dry-cured or fermented product. A water activity meter measures the unbound water content of your product, and the more unbound water you remove from a dry-cured or fermented sausage, the better your chances of reducing spoilage. The industry standard is the Pawkit made by Decagon. This amazing meter will last for a lifetime of meat making. It is only used for dry-cured items.

Reviews

“Being French, I know how important well-done charcuterie is to everyday life. Olympia Provisions is a wonderful journey through the simple yet complex recipes that have made it a craft throughout time. Visually stunning and conversationally informative with personal stories, notes, and tips, it is a tribute to charcuterie’s versatility and cultural prowess, and the restaurant recipes only make me hungry for more.”
—Daniel Boulud, chef/owner, The Dinex Group

“Portland’s Olympia Provisions has been making some of America’s best charcuterie for years. Elias Cairo is the man behind it, and he has written a book that explains not only how he has been creating this food, but the whys that make it so good. This is a great resource for anyone who wants to explore the craft of charcuterie, with fabulous recipes and gorgeous photography.”
—Michael Ruhlman, James Beard award–winning author of Ruhlman’s Twenty and Charcuterie

“Olympia Provisions is so much more than a charcuterie, just as its cookbook is so much more than simply a collection of recipes. It’s a love letter to the craft of curing, smoking, and fermenting; a passionate family story, rich in history, technique, humor, and lots of good food. Elias Cairo’s utter adoration for cured meat is not only inspiring, it’s infectious!”
—Gail Simmons, food expert, TV host, and author of Talking with My Mouth Full 

Author

© Eric Wolfinger
Meredith Erickson has co-authored The Art of Living According to Joe BeefLe PigeonOlympia Provisions, Kristen Kish Cooking, and Claridge’s: The Cookbook. She is currently working on her own book, Alpine Cooking, and on The Frasca Cookbook. She has written for The New York TimesElle, Saveur, Condé Nast Traveler, and Lucky Peach. When not traveling, she can be found in Montreal, Quebec (with friends and family at Joe Beef). View titles by Meredith Erickson

Table of Contents

01 Introduction: So Damn Greek It Hurts
Part 1: OP Charcuterie 10
chapter 1: Slow-Cooked Meats 25
27 Pork Rillettes and Rillons
31 Duck Confit and Rillettes 
33 Coppa di Testa
38 Capicola
chapter 2: Pâté and Forcemeat 43
45 Pork Pistachio Pâté
47 Pheasant and Prune Pâté
50 Pork Liver Mousse
53 Quail en Gelée
56 Rabbit, Apricot, and Tarragon Pâté
58 Rabbit Ballotine
62 Porchetta 
chapter 3: Fresh Sausage 69
73 Our Basic Sausage
77 Parsley Pecorino Sausage
80 Bratwurst
81 Breakfast Sausage
84 Italian Sausage with Lacinato Kale
88
Mortadella
92
Salami Cotto
chapter 4: The Smokehouse 95
98 Käsekrainer
101 OP Frankfurter (The O.G. Foot-Long)
106
Top 19 Frankfurter Specials 
108 Bacon on a Grill
111 Sweetheart Ham
113 OP Pepperettes 
chapter 5: Dry-Cured Meats 117
121 Pancetta
123 Coppa 
124 Lomo
chapter 6: Fermented, Dry-Cured
  Salami
127
135 Loukanika
140 Saucisson d'Arles 
143 Salami Etna
149 Chorizo Andalucía
153 Nduja
Intermission: Back to Wildhaus 158


Part 2: The Restaurants and Their Recipes 188
chapter 7: Brunch 193
194 The OP Benedict
196 Laser Potatoes
198 English Muffins
201 Flapjack Attack
202 Kielbasa Hash
203 Baked Eggs Peperonata
205 Sweet Cream Biscuits 
207 Bratwurst Gravy  
chapter 8: Lunch 210
211 Choucroute Garnie
212 Sauerkraut 
213 Chicories Salad
214
Winter Density Romaine
with Anchovy Vinaigrette
216
Cardoon Salad with Corona Beans
and Piave Cheese
217 Veggie Banh Mi
219 The OP Cured Meats Sandwich
220 OP Chorizo Sandwich
220 The Randy
222 Asparagus and Garlic Cream on Toast
223 Pork Pistachio Pâté Sandwich
224 Hand Pies
226 Garlic Almond Soup
227 Baby Octopus with Chickpeas and Aioli
228
Baked Shrimp, Chèvre, Chile Oil,
and Oregano
231 Steamed Manila Clams with Chorizo 




chapter 9: Wine Time 232
233 Cherry, Basil, and Chèvre Crostini
234 Chèvre Crostini
235 Smoked Trout Crostini
236 Skordalia and White Anchovies on Toast 
237 Persimmon Salad 
239 Octopus Terrine with Dill 
244
Arugula, Grapefruit, Pistachios,
and Ricotta Salata
247 Caponata Siciliana
chapter 10: Dinner 248
249 Steak Tartare
250 Roasted Radicchio with Crucolo
253 OP Northwest’s Rotisserie Chicken 
254 Schmaltz Potatoes
255 Chicken Jus
257 Whole Roasted Astoria Sardines 
258 Crepinette 
262 Braised Beef Short Ribs
264
Cherry Tomato, Cabbage, and Chowchow Salad
266 Roasted Halibut, Ham, and Mussel Salad
269 Chocolate Salami
272 Acknowledgments
274 Index