Happy New Year! To start things off in 2021, I’ll be blogging in more depth about the specifics of making charcuterie products.

You might have heard the word "salumi" used interchangeably with "charcuterie." The terms are synonymous — but don’t confuse "salumi" with "salami!" I did this for many years and felt like a complete idiot when I was finally told by a caring friend that I was using the word incorrectly.

The word "salumi" is used to describe the art and craft of salting and dry-curing meat. "Salami" is a cooked or salt-cured dry sausage. I’ll be writing about salami in my next blog.

For this series on salumi/charcuterie, I’ll be using my friend of many years, Mark DeNittis as a resource. Mark used to own and operate his own salumi plant and has a vast amount of knowledge about the production of many salumi items. I’ve had the experience of hearing Mark teach classes on salumi production and have been fascinated with the technical details and wide variety of production methods used around the world.

Today we’ll be considering the production of two popular dry-cured types of salumi: prosciutto and sopressata.

Prosciutto is an Italian dry-cured ham that is uncooked and served thinly sliced. Prosciutto is made from either a pig's or a wild boar's hind leg or thigh. It is not smoked. There are many different types of prosciutto in Italy that are produced with some variation, and each variety has its own protected status. A very famous variety is Prosciutto di Parma PDO from the Emilia-Romagna region. I’ve eaten Prosciutto di Parma many times and consider it one of my all-time favorites.

Spain, Portugal, France and Italy all produce different types of prosciutto. In Spain, jamon Serrano is produced from a specific breed of pig, commonly the Landrace white pig. The specific flavor of the dry-cured pork varies not only by the type of pig that is used, but also by what the pigs are eating. Prosciutto de Parma is made from pigs that are fed the by-products of making Parmesan cheese. It has a nice nutty taste. Serrano cheese by contrast has different flavor because the pigs are fed a diet of cereal.

Mark’s experience making prosciutto is that it’s normally about a 24-month process.

If you ever get a chance at a large food show to taste the different varieties of prosciutto, do so. Food shows are the best way to taste and learn about the differences in the pork and production methods and you don’t have to buy it to try it. I’m personally looking forward to attending food shows again this year and hope we get there by summer time with the COVID restrictions.

Sopressata also has many variations by region. Its roots go way back to the need to use all the left-over parts of the hog, so that nothing goes to waste. Some small regional makers still boil the head and use all the head meat. A typical production will involve grinding all the meat, rolling it out flat on a table, adding seasonings, and then stuffing the seasoned pork into a casing. Mark likes to season his sopressata with just the simple ingredients of sea salt, black peppercorns, time and air.

Some key points to know about sopressata production: The pork is coarse-ground first, then pressed, spiced and stuffed into a natural beef casing. It’s dry-cured for at least 15 days or longer depending on the temperature and water activity level.

If you ever get to go to Spain and see sopressata being make, you will likely see large wood presses used to flatten the coarse-ground meat. Some makers press the meat first, then season it. Others season it in a tumbler or as the meat is coarse-ground.

The technical details of making salumi can get us in the weeds fast and will make this short blog too long, so if you want more technical details about making salumi, email me at greg@usprotein.com and I’ll answer or put you in touch with Mark or others who can answer your technical questions.

Start getting your charcuterie cuts in place for Super Bowl LV!

Salumi vs. charcuterie

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