Eeeeewwww

Alrighty. Let's talk charcuterie

The ugly mass of stuff is called a bresaola.
A bresaola is a cured meat made from the beef eye of round. I had never heard of it before the last month or two, but I'm glad I found it (with a little help from MsJan, always on the lookout for new stuff). Essentially, you take an eye of round, strip it of all fat, cure it (more later) and let it hang until it has dried. The white stuff is good mold that enhances flavor .... like the mold on good salami. When completed, you cut the bresaola paper thin like proscuitto and eat it much like you would proscuitto, i.e. with melon. We eat it sliced thin with a drizzle of specialty olive oil, fresh herbs sprinkled on it, and a spritz of lemon. Trust me. It's to die for. And, unlike much of charcuterie, it's very very low in fat.

Later, more pics and explanations of the process from beginning to end (rather than in the middle like this one).