Posted
on September 7, 2016
As we celebrate salami, today, we might wonder – what exactly IS salami?
It's
a kind of sausage. As you probably know, a sausage is a tubular kind
of meat created by grinding one or more sort of meat, usually adding
other ingredients for flavor, and encasing the meat in a tubular
skin.
What
makes a salami different from other sorts of sausages? It's been
cured – salted and spiced, left to ferment, and air-dried. Because
of this, salami can be stored at room temperature for more than a
month, even after it's been cut! Back in the old days, when only the
rich had ice boxes or refrigerators, and back in the even older days,
when nobody had refrigerators, curing meat was very important!
The
word salami comes from the Italian salame (the plural
form of salame is salami). Actually, in English, salami
can be either singular or plural.
Apparently,
every region tends to have its own special kind of salami (called by
that name or another). Typical, familiar salami here in the U.S.
tends to be beef or pork, but other meats can be used...like venison
(deer), turkey, goose, even horse meat! Some of the other ingredients
may include garlic, minced fat, vinegar, wine, salt, white pepper,
other herbs and spices.
Here
are some other names for salami: chorizo, cacciatore, kulen,
pepperoni, saucisson sec, lardo. Some of these are familiar !and
yummy!). I don't know that lardo sounds that delicious, though...
On
Salami Day, of course you can celebrate by eating salami! Do a taste
test of several different sorts, possibly eating them with crackers
and cheese.
Or
be creative and make a salami-pasta dish, or maybe salami nests! Or...how about angry-bird salami sandwiches?
Don't
try this at home! Making a salami “floor” – like conceptual
artist Wim Delvoye did (pictured below) – would be really expensive!
Also
on this date:
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ahead:
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