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Oct. 31 - Nov. 7, 2004 |
Beyond the deli counter
Italian cuisine specializes in variety of delicious cured meats
By Rita Simonetta
Originally Published: 2003-11-09
Italian cuisine is based on two essentials: fantasia (otherwise known as a keen sense of creativity and inventiveness), and resourcefulness. The latter is responsible for the many delicious Italian cured meats that are now known all around the world.
Cured meats are a result of the need to conserve meats after the slaughter of an animal. Italians have been making cured meats for thousands of years. Italy was traditionally an agricultural country, so it was common for rural families to keep live pigs and cure the meat.
Fresh meat is transformed into cured meat by salting, smoking or air-drying. Prosciutto, Pancetta, Coppa and Culatello are made from a boneless thigh or shoulder; salami and sausages are made from minced, ground or chopped meat that is stuffed into casings.
Cured meats are most popularly used in antipasto plates or in sandwiches, but they can be dressed up to impress in more elaborate dishes as well.
Salami are sausages that come in a variety of textures and flavours, reflecting the different regions from which the versions hail. There's Salame Sardo from Sardinia and Salame Fiorentina from Tuscany, just to name a few.
Finocchiona is a variation on salami. The legend goes that a thief near the town of Prato stole a fresh salami and hid it in wild fennel. When he returned he noticed the salami had absorbed the aroma of the fennel and finocchiona was born. There are two versions of finocchiona. One is called finocchiona. This firm salami is made of finely ground pork and fat, laced with fennel. Then there's sbriciolona; the crumbly version of this salami.
Spicy and dry, Calabrese sausage is a salami made out of pork and hot chile peppers.
Mortadella is a smoked pork sausage flavoured with garlic and bits of fat. It is also the largest of all the sausages from Bologna, often having a diameter of up to 45 centimetres. With its pale pink colour, it's a favourite in sandwiches and appetizer plates. It can also be finely chopped and used as a stuffing for filled pasta.
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