Sorry it's taken me a while to get this together, the photos were difficult to find.
It's easy to make, it just takes time and watching the air drying carefully to make sure the meat is always in good condition.
When you butcher your pig in winter, as soon as the neck meat has been cut, cover it in sea salt completely roll and wrap in a cloth.
Then put it 3 days per kilo in a wooden salt box surrounded completely in sea salt
Remove the meat and clean off the salt then rub all over with fruit alcohol (I like fig eau
de vie), roll the neck with herbs and spices tucked inside to taste. I use coloured peppers and a little dried thyme. Roll
really tightly, tie with string and cover completely in ground pepper - rubbing the pepper well into the edges.
Air drying
should be done somewhere dry with plenty of wind and absolutely no humidity. Check the copa regularly, especially the edges. It should be completely dry - rub more pepper in if needed.
Air dry for 15 to 30 days before cutting and don't hesitate to bring it inside somewhere cool to protect it from the humidity if it rains for a few days.
To keep the copa in good condition, cover and rehang in the air covered with a muslin cloth to let the air circulate. In the right conditions it will last for up to 6 months.
Selection of air dried pork (This copa is a bit fatty - it's the slice on the left)
Ours never lasts long - this is always the first of our charcuterie to go !
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