Beef Salametti

Posted by Christian on Jun 1, 2012 in Home Curing, Salumi | 2 comments

Salametti translates to little salami and originated as a hunter’s sausage.  The size and shape were meant to fit easily into the coat pocket of hunters so that on long days they had something to eat.  I’ve wanted to make some of this for quite some time as it’s a great little snack for work and I’m able to get spectacular beef from my farmer’s market along with the great pork I already have.

The spicing is simple as you’ll see below and the process is no different than any other salami.  The one thing of note is that you’ll want to use the smallest hog casing you can find and make your links about 6″ long.  Remember, you want to make this small.

Salame della Musica

Posted by Christian on Feb 27, 2012 in Home Curing | 0 comments

This is a salame I’ve been wanting to make for quite some time. I’ve been really driven to find regional specialties and push my skill set and knowledge around the craft. However, the trouble I’ve been running into for this particular salame is finding a recipe or at least a guiding set of ingredients of which to work off of.  This salame is a specialty to the northern region of Italy outside of a town called Biella with a bit of a mystique around it’s origins.  

Fiocco and Culatello

Posted by Christian on Feb 25, 2012 in Home Curing | 1 comment

For quite some time I’ve been wanting to make Fiocco and Culatello.  They are regarded as some of the finest charcuterie items in all of Italy, perhaps second to only Prosciutto, though I have read arguments to counter this opinion as well.  You see, Fiocco and Culatello are the two cuts of meat from the rear legs of the animal.  If you visualize the femur, they lie on either side of it, with fiocco being the smaller of the two.  These are the same legs that make Prosciutto, so the quality and density of the meat is similar.

Sopressata Dolce and Piccante

Posted by Christian on Feb 25, 2012 in Home Curing | 0 comments

While I’ve made sopressata before, previously I had decided to hand cut the fat into chunks for both a better appearance and perhaps even a better mouth feel.  This time however, I decided to simply do a coarse grind to have a comparison, as this is far less labor intensive, but perhaps not as visually stunning.