Chef Steve McHugh is a six-time James Beard Award finalist, the author of Cured, and the founder of the celebrated San Antonio charcuterie restaurant of the same name — a 12-year run built entirely around preservation, dry aging, fermentation, and the science of what happens when you take time seriously with meat.

Steve grew up on a Wisconsin dairy farm, trained at the CIA, and cut his teeth in John Besh's kitchens in New Orleans before a lymphoma diagnosis stopped him mid-career. He finished treatment, moved to Texas, and opened Cured at the Pearl Brewery — a restaurant centered on whole-animal butchery, handmade charcuterie, and a custom aging case that eventually became one of the most interesting preservation programs in the country.

In this conversation, we get into the real science behind curing and dry aging: what 60/60/60 actually means and when it doesn't apply, the difference between EQ curing and salt box method, why water is the enemy of every preservation technique, and how mold — the right mold — is the thing that keeps your case healthy and your flavors complex. Steve talks about how COVID wiped out twelve years of charcuterie inventory in three months, and how his wife's idea to fill the empty case with dry-aged beef turned into a second revenue engine. We also go deep on fish dry aging, wet aging, rapid aging claims, and one of my favorite moments in recent podcast memory: Steve debunking the "uncured bacon" label at the grocery store. Spoiler — they're curing it with celery. They're just not telling you.

If you're a chef trying to understand preservation, an operator thinking about a dry aging program, or just someone who wants to know what's actually in that pack of bacon be sure to listen all the way through.

Steve McHugh: Instagram / Twitter / Facebook: @ChefSteveMcHugh 

Book: Cured — available anywhere books are sold

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CHAPTERS / TIMESTAMPS

• 00:00 — Introduction
• 01:17 — Farm life, work ethic & finding the kitchen
• 07:26 — CIA, New Orleans & John Besh
• 09:43 — Lymphoma, recovery & opening Cured
• 15:08 — Curing vs. dry aging: the science explained
• 22:05 — How COVID created an accidental dry aging program
• 29:03 — Mold: why it's your best employee
• 43:05 — Dry aging fish
• 48:01 — Uncured bacon: the truth
• 52:01 — Life after Cured & what's next

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