Salami
Salami is cured sausage, fermented and air-dried. Salami may refer specifically to a class of salumi (the Italian tradition of cured meats), where an individual sausage or style of sausage (e.g. Genoa) would be referred to with the singular Italian form salame. Alternatively, in general English usage, salami may be singular or plural and refer to a generic style or to various specific regional styles from Italy or elsewhere, such as France or Germany. The name comes from the Latin/Italian root sal-, meaning 'salt'.
Historically, salami has been popular amongst Italian peasants due to being a meat product able to be stored at room temperature for periods of up to a year, supplementing a possibly meagre or inconstant supply of fresh meat.
Ingredients of salami
A traditional salame (singular), with its typical marbled appearance, is made from one or more of the following meats:
- chopped beef, pork, venison, poultry, goose, lamb, goat.
Additional ingredients include:
The raw meat mixture is usually allowed to ferment for a day and then the mixture is either stuffed into an edible natural or non-edible artificial casing and hung to cure. The casings are often treated with an edible mold (Penicillium) culture as well. The mold is desired as it imparts flavor and prevents spoilage during the curing process. Most salami have the mold or the casing removed before being brought to the United States market. Purists insist that the mold should be left intact.
More modern (but still traditional) mixtures include additional ingredients to assist in the fermentation process. These ingredients aim to take the guesswork out of traditional curing and can be found in many of the finest salami varieties in the world, although some producers eschew the nitrates and nitrites due to health concerns.
- nonfat dry milk
- dextrose
- lactic acid bacteria starter culture
- ascorbic acid
- sodium nitrite
- sodium nitrate
Varieties of salami
Varieties of salami include:
- Cotto
- Genoa
- Fegatelli
- Finocchiona
- Pepperoni
- Saucisson sec (French "dry sausage")
- Sopressata
Many Old World salami are named after the region or country of their origin. Examples include Arles, Genoa, Hungarian and Milano salame. Many are flavored with garlic. Some types — including a few varieties from Spain, most Hungarian types, and southern Italian styles (such as pepperoni, derived from salsiccia Napoletana piccante) include paprika or chili powder. Varieties are also differentiated by the coarseness or fineness of the chopped meat as well as the size and style of the casing used.
In the United States, traditional salami are either imported or referred to as an "Italian Salame", the protected term for salami made in the United States.
One of the most expensive and well-regarded types of salame, the Felino, brings a great amount of money to the local industry of the province of Parma and the Emilia-Romagna region in general. There is a small statue in the town of Felino dedicated to the pig. According to the inscription on the statue, the people of these areas brought out the best quality of the pig to create the grandest of all pork-derived products in Italy if not in the whole known world: the Salame di Felino and Prosciutto di Parma (Parma-style cured ham), showing how much pride and dignity Italians have for these traditions.
In Sicilian oral lore, salami is said to have been the favorite cured meat of Jesus Christ.
Manufacturing process
Though uncooked, salami are not raw; they have been prepared via curing. The term cotto salame refers to salami cooked or smoked before or after curing. This is done to impart a specific flavor but not to cook the meat. Before curing, a cotto salame is still considered raw and is not ready to be eaten. Most kinds of salami made from donkey or ox are considered "cotto".
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Salami are cured in warm, humid conditions in order to encourage growth of the bacteria involved in the fermentation process. Sugar is added as a food source for the bacteria during the curing process, although it tends not to be added to horse meat due to the latter's naturally high levels of glycogen. Lactic acid is produced by the bacteria as a waste product, lowering the pH and coagulating and drying the meat. The acid produced by the bacteria makes the meat an inhospitable environment for other, dangerous bacteria and imparts the tangy flavor that separates salami from machine-dried pork. The flavor of a salami relies just as much on how this bacteria is cultivated as it does on quality and variety of other ingredients. Originally, the bacteria were introduced into the meat mixture with wine, which contains other types of beneficial bacteria; now, starter cultures are used. The whole process takes about a 36 weeks, although some age it more for additional taste, and some can cut it down to about 24 weeks for a sweeter taste.
The curing process is determined by the climate of the curing environment and the size and style of casing. After fermentation, the sausage has to be dried. This changes the casings from being water-permeable to being reasonably airtight. A white covering of either mold or flour helps prevent the photo-oxidation of the meat and rancidity in the fat.
Under some conditions the nitrate probably comes from the breakdown of proteins. Salt, acidity, nitrate levels and dryness of the fully-cured salami combine to make the raw meat safe to consume.
See also
References
- Making Salami by Len Poli, Sonoma, California
- Jim Bacus "Utilization of Microorganisms in Meat Processing - a handbook for meat plant operators", Research Studies Press
- Campbell-Platt, G and Cook, P. (Eds) (1995) "Fermented Meats", Blackie Academic and Professional, Glasgow
- Darby W.J et al "Food: the gift of Osiris", London 1977
- Gou P. et al "Potassium Chloride, Potassium lactate & Glycine as Sodium Chloride substitutes in fermented sausages & in dry cured pork loin", Meat Science vol 42 nol p37-48 1996