Bresaola is beef that is cured by osmosis, using salt and sugar in the same way as making gravad laks. I dissolved the salt and sugar in two bottles of red wine and I added five whole heads of garlic, black peppercorns, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, Juniper berries and oregano. That was on 10 January, and I left the meat in the wine solution for five weeks. On 17 February I removed the meat from the wine and wrapped it in cheescloth and hung it out in the cold winter air for a week, after which I put it in the fridge to dry cure for a month or more. After six weeks, at the end of March, I tried a piece and it was delicious. There is still some Bresoala that continues to dry cure in the fridge and it will continue to improve in flavour for several months more – if I don’t eat it before then.
