Whichever way you want to call it, lonzo or lomo has a great background.  Lonzo is from Italy and lomo is from Spain.  There is even a version from Greece that uses red wine in the cure and is referred to as lountza. This is another great piece of charcuterie history! Lomo can be and mean many things; in Spanish it means loin, traditional lomo would be beef tenderloin, and lomo de credo translates to loin of pork. Most of the lomo that I have had has been the tenderloin of pork so that is where I will begin.

This piece of cured muscle is a great way to start curing at home, the cut is small and not terribly expensive. The spices that are used are very aromatic and distinct, you should be able to pick out every spice that you put into it. The curing time is relatively short as is the hang time compared to the curing time of a whole loin because of its size.

For my lomo I am using Carlton Farms, based out of Carlton, Oregon, because they are a local and reliable source for great pork.

The Pork

~2.50# Cleaned Pork Tenderloin

The Cure

1.05oz sugar

.21oz pink salt

.07oz toasted pink peppercorns

.21oz toasted fennel seeds

.21oz toasted coriander

.84oz Kosher salt

.14oz sweet smoked paprika

2ea cloves chopped garlic

.07oz thyme leaves

.07oz cayenne pepper

.14oz Espelette

.14oz Fennel Pollen

• Combine all of the ingredients for the cure.

• Dry the pork with some paper towels and roll them in the cure.
• Lay out a piece of plastic wrap and sprinkle with 1/4 of the remaining cure, place pork on top and add 1/4 more of the cure.

• Roll the plastic around the pork tightly and place the loins in the fridge for 4 days, some recipes have said 1-2 weeks but that is for a loin of pork which is twice as thick. I went with the same curing time as my bacon to ensure that it does not get over cured. Check the pork daily and flip it over on its other side, when done the tenderloin should feel firmer than in raw form.

• After your curing time is up, unwrap the pork and rinse under cool water to remove excess cure, and pat try with paper towels. Wrap the tenderloin in cheesecloth and hang until it has lost 30% of its weight. I am estimating it to be close to three weeks, again I have a chart that I will record the weight of the product every week to track when it is done.