Grate Cured Cheese Like Parmesan
Thanks to the Great 90s Protein Obsession, my school lunchbox was often packed with cheese, beef jerky, and (non-protein) SnackWell bars (like those with a thin wavy line of icing). I burned a little on dehydrated meat, but – thanks to Paleo, etc. – jerky is reborn and it has become popular .
Beef and turkey are still the most common, but their flavors (eg habanero peach) have taken on a gourmand character. The volume of proteins has also expanded. Salmon jerky is not new, but there is more of it, and pork vendors are now in the game, offering both bacon and carnitas jerky. These high quality jerky sheets and sticks are still great starters, but they are also great grated fillings for salads, pasta, grilled vegetables, and just about any other savory food (like stuffed eggs).
It’s kind of like a bespoke slice of bacon, but different meats are used here, with an almost endless number of uses. The smoky, spicy carnitas jerky goes well with salad. The sweet and savory teriyaki beef is ramen noodle fun. Trader Joe’s turkey buffalo jerky craves macaroni and cheese. Salmon jerky is essentially a dirty sack bottarga; try it on a bunch of garlic and olive oil pasta. When it comes to breakfast, all varieties are good for eggs, whether boiled, scrambled, or fried, and I am very obsessed with dried bacon on cereals. Simply grab a piece of jerky and rub it (perpendicularly) in the microplane over whatever savory treat you want to enjoy. If anyone asks, you can call it “home-cured meat shavings”, which sounds like something unusual and real.