How is Catalan fuet made?

The origins of Catalan fuet go back to the Baroque era in Catalonia. Its name is inspired by its shape, which resembles a whip or a riding crop. The way fuet is made has stayed unchanged ever since, which gives it this unique, irresistible flavour. The recipes that follow from it are gathered in our selection of fuets.

What is Catalan fuet?

The Catalan fuet is a Spanish cured meat made with pork that resembles saucisson or saucisse sèche. The only difference lies in the calibre. This cured meat is thinner than saucisson and saucisse sèche. That is thanks to the small-diameter casing used to fill the meat.

Being thinner, it dries faster, which gives it its unique flavour. Another distinctive feature of this fuet is the whitish colour of its skin. The presence of moulds helps preserve it.

The Catalan fuet is eaten raw, on its own or as an aperitif. It can also be made into sandwiches by laying thin slices on bread. The Catalan fuet offered by Directos.eu can be kept for 5 to 6 months.

Which ingredients are used to make this Iberian saucisson?

The main ingredients that go into making Catalan fuet are lean pork and backfat. Spices can be added to these. For this reason, there are several types of Catalan fuet. The spices most commonly used in this Spanish cured meat are:

• garlic,
• nutmeg,
• black pepper.

The other ingredients are salt and sugar (sucrose and dextrose). For filling, a natural casing is needed. Sheep casings are the most recommended, as they generally have the right size (between 22 and 30 mm).

The different stages of making Catalan fuet

Making Catalan fuet happens in several stages. A certain process must be followed to get a good product.

Trimming the lean pork and the backfat

The first stage is to trim the meat. This involves boning it and removing the unnecessary parts. The pork loin cut is used to make Catalan fuet, available in stock at Directos.eu.

This part has good taste quality. Ham can also be used. For the fat, backfat is the most commonly used. This is the tissue covering the animal's back. It is the best part for getting pork fat. Catalan fuet should be made up of about 10 to 20% of it. So lean pork is needed in a proportion of 80 to 90%. If the trimming is done poorly, it will affect the taste of the product.

Mincing the meat

The lean pork must not be finely minced. It must be done with the mincer's 12 mm plate. The backfat, on the other hand, must be barely visible in the fuet. The 6 mm plate is generally used. The mincer tends to heat up the fat. The backfat may then melt during the process, which is bad for drying the fuet. To avoid this, the fat is placed in the freezer for 2 to 3 hours before this stage.

Preparing the mixture

Once minced, the lean pork and the backfat are mixed with the other ingredients. It is placed in a bowl and the charcutier mixes it with the minced meat and fat. Sugar, salt and ground spices are then added. The mixture can be blended evenly by hand or with a kneading machine. Before becoming the fuet, the mixture then rests for 12 to 24 hours, at a temperature between 0 and 2 °C.

Filling and drying

After letting the mixture rest, the charcutier moves on to filling. The sheep casings are rinsed and desalted before this operation is carried out. Filling is done with a stuffer. The professional then pushes the mixture into the casing at a steady speed.

They work carefully to avoid the casing splitting. After filling comes the drying of Catalan fuet. This is done in a place where humidity is between 70 and 80%, at a temperature ranging from 8 to 15 °C. About 4 days later, the first white spots appear on the Catalan fuet. After 2 to 3 weeks, it will be ready.

You can use Catalan fuet in an Iberian recipe or use it to cook many dishes. The Directos.eu online charcuterie shop offers quality products so you can enjoy the best of Spanish flavours.