New smoking fan from Sydney

[bandyka]

Hello All,

Just a quick intro. I am located in Sydney and a big fan of smoking anything and making great tasting sausages and mostly European small goods.

Having a Hungarian background I love to amaze friends and co-workers with a good meal. I mostly got my recipes from our grand parents and even older generation, like to follow the traditional way as much as possible. I've had great comments on how differently products taste when done by these old recipes and using the best ingredients available. I am no experts by any means but very passionate when it comes to creating tasty meat products

Currently using a Bradley smoker and experimenting with oak.

Next project is mild Salami and cold smoked Csabai sausages.

Cheers and happy smokin.

Andrew

 

[themule69]

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...
Happy smoken.
David

 

[bluewhisper]

Welcome to the board! Lithuanian background here. I cherish my copy of Culinaria Hungary.

http://www.storyfestjourneys.com/hu...ne-of-hungary-food-/culinaria-hungaricum.html

 

[gary s]

  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from a cloudy, rainy and warm day in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything .

Gary

 

[bandyka]

Thanks for the warm welcome guy I'll be sure participate as much as I can and be helpful.

BlueWhisper thanks for the link very interesting read perhaps will print it out and read while smoking something outside....

For now however I would love to get some feedback on this:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...ly-smoker-need-advice-to-avoid-nasties-please

Appreciate it.

Cheers

Andrew

 

[bluewhisper]

Andrew, here's a laugh, I sat down with that book and a Russian woman, and we had fun finding the cognates or near-cognates between Lithuanian/Russian/Hungarian like kopusta for cabbage.

 

[bandyka]

yeah there are heaps of similarities yet pronounced in a whole different way. funny most foreign words I learn is associated with food...

 

[bluewhisper]

+1 on keeping the old family recipes alive, I made sure to show my mother that I could cook her favorites before she passed away.

My parents liked to grill, but they didn't smoke meat. They briefly had a Little Chief electric smoker, just a waist-high cabinet, but they didn't use it much. I started smoking much later, on my own.

However, our family has always gone to a local German smokehouse/sausage shop for good smoked meats. And in case you didn't know, there's a lot of German tradition in Texas, too.

 

[bandyka]

Yeah I've heard about this in the US and in Texas but I still know too little about that region that is one of the reasons why we are planning a visit next year actually.

Well I thought some years ago that by the previous generation passing away we will not carry those beautiful home made products over but it seems I actually may be wrong as more and more peeps are becoming interested in reviving them including myself I never intended to stay in AUS but I spent most of my life here arrived as kid for a holiday but that is another story.

So long story short I just got sick of not being able to find those proper tasting sausages I used to remember as a kid so I decided to start making my own (mind you they are even hard to find in Europe these days).

I was a little afraid that the peeps around here will not like it. The last batch turned out to be 99% like my grand parents used to make it I've had  around 20 people taste it and they were all amazed by the "freshness" and the vibrant taste. A head chef commented (this is what I remember from back in the days) This is due to no small part in finding the best quality meat and ordering REAL home made paprika from a small farm in Hungary.

I am trying to carry over the old flavors and so far it has been working great. Now I am only struggling with cold smoking so I am hoping someone will be able to answer my questions.

 

[bluewhisper]

There's one difference, the northern Baltic cuisine doesn't have so much red pepper and tomato. But my family has always experimented at other eastern European and Russian cuisines.

My mother's version of goulash, from over the northern horizon (more or less)

pork shoulder, cubed to thumbnail size, fried to golden brown in shortening or bacon fat

onion, sauteed but not heavily browned

tomato paste, or plain sauce

PAPRIKA did I say paprika? PAPRIKA shake shake shake

sauerkraut, rinsed, or sometimes fresh shredded cabbage

optional garlic, caraway

Once it's all cooked, mix a bit of the broth into some sour cream a little at a time to emulsify, combine, and serve hot with cold vodka.

 

[bandyka]

hmm sounds exciting I might just give this a toss outside tomorrow in the "bogracs"

 

[bandyka]

in lieu of proper bacon fat I normally substitute it with duck or goose fat tastes just as good if not better.