Artisanal charcuterie

Page 14 - Agriculture Magazine, March 2020 Fifth Season of Montana specializes in

handmade artisanal charcuterie

DILLON KOUF Fifth Season Montana Choosing food based on seasonality is a long-practiced and sustainable way to eat.

Our ancestors also understood that the foods we loved fresh in one season, could be processed natural to extend their longevity into the other seasons as well.

The act of salt curing meat has been a practice for thousands of years as a way preserve a wide variety of foods before the advent of refrigeration. Charcuterie today is prepared to honor this tradition, and to show the true flavors meat can develop over time, while being able to sustainably use the whole animal. What is Charcuterie? You probably don’t use the French word charcuterie, but you know what it is—cured or smoked meat; products such as salami, sausage, bresaola, coppa, and prosciutto, to name a few. Charcuterie is making a big comeback having re-emerged from the local food and farm to table movements. Extending the shelf life of meat from days, and increasing it to months, we are expanding the four seasons to include a Fifth Season, so the meat harvested in spring can still be enjoyed in winter, and the game hunted in fall can be enjoyed in summer. It is the Fifth Season that has transformed the way we eat, and, it is this transformation that we celebrate and bring to you with the addition of Fifth Season Montana.

What does the licensing to produce charcuterie involve?

A lot of paperwork! Training, written plans, approvals and much more are just a few things to get started. The State of Montana controls the issuance of licenses to produce charcuterie and are at the shop daily to check in, the requirements are quite rigorous. At this time, Fifth Season is the only licensed operation in the state of Montana that is producing cured meats with the ability

to sell wholesale around the state.

Fifth Season Montana Commitment

Fifth Season Montana was founded in 2019 on the Double K Ranch. Based on the ideas that food can be preserved to increase its longevity and should be sustainable, locally sourced, and created using old world traditional techniques and methods. With ingredients from around the Bitterroot Valley and the beautiful state of Montana, we create the highest quality artisanal cured meats.

Where you can find Fifth Season of Montana products? You can stop by the Double K Ranch to purchase charcuterie at our meat shop. Find the hours and address at www.doublekranch.com. Other points of sale include: • Missoula Winter Market. Located at the Senior

Center on the Hip Strip. 9am-1pm every Saturday until April 18th • O’Hara House Bee Hive Winter Foods Market, every other Tuesday, 3-4:30pm Oliver Blood House, Hamilton, through March 23 • Missoula and Hamilton Saturday Farmer’s Markets, May-October • Western Montana Growers Coop (Wholesale) • Restaurants:

• 1889 (Missoula) • Create Art Bar (Missoula) • Latitude 48 (Whitefish) • Resort at Paws Up • With more around the state coming soon! Fifth Season of Montana appreciates your support of local hand-crafted charcuterie. photo Courtesy fifth se son ont n