Pepperoni

Pepperoni

Packaged pepperoni
Place of origin	United States
Main ingredients	pork and beef
Ingredients generally used	spices
Food energy (per 100 g serving)	460 kcal (1926 kJ)
Nutritional value (per 100 g serving)	Protein 20.35 g Fat 40.2 g Carbohydrate 4 g
Media: Pepperoni

Pepperoni is an American variety of salami, made from cured pork and beef seasoned with paprika or other chili pepper.

Pepperoni is characteristically soft, slightly smoky, and bright red in color. Thinly sliced pepperoni is a popular pizza topping in American pizzerias.

Etymology

The term "pepperoni" is a borrowing of peperoni, the plural of peperone, the Italian word for bell pepper. The first use of "pepperoni" to refer to a sausage dates to 1919. In Italian, the word peperoncino refers to hot and spicy peppers.

History

Pepperoni, an Italian-American creation, is a cured dry sausage, with similarities to the spicy salamis of southern Italy on which it is based, such as salsiccia Napoletana piccante, a spicy dry sausage from Naples, or the soppressata from Calabria. The main differences are that pepperoni is less spicy, has a finer grain (akin to spiceless salami from Milan), is usually softer in texture, and is usually produced with the use of an artificial casing. Pepperoni is mass-produced in America to meet the demand for the sausage, which is frequently used as a pizza topping.

Production

Pepperoni, Pork

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	1,940 kJ (460 kcal)
Carbohydrates	4 g
Fat	40.2 g
Protein	20.35 g
Vitamins and minerals
†Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults, except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.

Pepperoni is made from pork or from a mixture of pork and beef. Turkey meat is also commonly used as a substitute, but the use of poultry in pepperoni must be appropriately labeled in the United States.

Curing with nitrates or nitrites (usually used in modern curing agents to protect against botulism and other forms of microbiological decay) also contributes to pepperoni's reddish color, by reacting with heme in the myoglobin of the proteinaceous components of the meat.

Serving

According to Convenience Store Decisions, Americans consume 251.7 million pounds of pepperoni annually, on 36% of all pizzas produced nationally. Pepperoni has a tendency to curl up from the edges in the heat of a pizza oven. Some pepperoni is produced in thicker slices, so that the edges curl intentionally.

Pepperoni is also used as the filling of the pepperoni roll, a popular regional snack in West Virginia and neighboring areas.

In the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, deep fried pepperoni served on its own (usually with a honey mustard dipping sauce) is common pub food.

• 
  Pepperoni on a pizza.
• 
  A cooked pizza with pepperoni showing distinct curling.

See also

• Linguiça
• List of dried foods
• List of sausages

Further reading

• Smith, Andrew F. (2007) "Pepperoni". The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink. p. 447. ISBN 0195307968.
• Palumbo, S. A., et al. (January 1976). "Microbiology and Technology of the Pepperoni Process" (abstract). Journal of Food Science. Volume 41, Issue 1. pages 12–17. (subscription required)
• Palumbo, S. A. et al. (July 1977). "Kinetics of Pepperoni Drying" (abstract). Journal of Food Science. Volume 42, Issue 4. pages 1029–1033. (subscription required)

External links

• The dictionary definition of pepperoni at Wiktionary