Generality
As with other cured meats, salamis are born from the attempt to maintain the edibility of pork (pork - S. scrofa ) for as long as possible; the conservative principles (therefore antiseptics and antioxidants) that affect salami are:
- Free water reduction by drying ( Activity Water - AW)
- Seasoning and mild internal fermentation
- Increase in sodium chloride (table salt - NaCl)
- Increased saturated fats
- Introduction of spices, flavorings and other ingredients (pepper, red wine, often squeezed garlic, sometimes fennel seeds, sometimes chili, sometimes mace, etc.)
- Shielding from the air (internally, by elimination of the bubbles, and externally, thanks to the action of the gut)
- Mold growth outside the gut
- In commercial salamis, use of some food additives such as milk powder, dextrose, nitrites and nitrates.
The salamis are foods belonging to the Italian gastronomic tradition even if, according to the territory, their "recipe" varies considerably. According to current legislation, the wording "salami" MUST necessarily be followed by the reference of the meat used since, although to a lesser extent, salami based on avian, ovine, equine, game meat, with offal (especially liver) is also sold, with blood, etc. Even the natural gut, although traditionally pork, can originate from other animals such as sheep, cattle or horses, while the synthetic one is based on cellulose; on the contrary, the fat used for salamis is always of porcine origin.
NB . Recently a type of tuna-based salami (Genus Thunnus ) has been proposed, although its use is to be considered absolutely marginal and not yet sufficiently widespread (probably due to the intense flavor).
Home production
Let us begin by pointing out that the homemade production of salami is one of the most complex traditions to pass on, since, at each generational change, the recipe is corrected by the custodian. Furthermore, the salamis are raw meat products, therefore they are easily perishable and difficult to season; a small error in the production cycle is sufficient to cause the loss of the entire batch of salamis.
Below we will try to summarize the key points of the salami production, but without having the presumption of establishing a real production recipe; the quantitative doses will not be specified, both for security reasons and in respect of the specificity of the territory (variables of: raw material, climate, equipment, places of production and maturing, specific microorganisms, seasonality, etc.).
For the simple production of a generic garlic (and invariably QUASI) salami it is necessary to obtain some ingredients such as: semi-fat pork (in blocks or pieces, but already deprived of waste such as bones, tendons, cartilages and rind), or ground and selected), ground pork fat (lard block, either in block or already ground), PIGSY of gut (clean, washed and treated with vinegar; best bought by a butcher), red wine (well alcoholic and tannic ), salt, black pepper (in beans and ground) and garlic. The equipment useful for the production of a few salamis can be made up of: steel table, chopping board, possibly a large container for the dough, small container to squeeze the garlic into the wine, carving knife (very sharp), bagging machine with crank, twine for tying and fork. The premises for the production, drying and seasoning of the salamis are: laboratory / kitchen for the dough and the bagging, drying room and seasoning room. The procedure can be reduced to the essentials through the following steps:
- Sanitation of equipment and premises before processing (unless you are lucky enough to work in a dedicated laboratory)
- Preparation of the ingredients: if not ground, any hand cut of the meat in small cubes (the size of a brunoise ) and any hand cutting of the fat; cleaning of garlic; chopped ½ of black pepper; wine dosage; weighing of salt
- In the container for the dough or on the steel table, add the meat, fat, pepper and salt
- Pour the wine into the small container
- Put the garlic into wedges in a cloth, crush it, wrap the tea towel on itself, dip it in the wine and squeeze it (so that the fresh garlic juice joins the wine) - squeeze several times
- Add the wine to the mixture
- Leave the salami mixture to stand and, in the meantime, taste the taste (if necessary)
- Prepare the bagging machine
- Bagging small salami (length 20cm) PAY ATTENTION NOT TO LEAVE AIR BUBBLES IN ITS INTERIOR that would compromise its conservation and firmly BIND the vertices of the gut
- Prick the salami with a fork (to help drain the liquids in the first drying phase)
- Salt the salami externally
- Hang them in a room at room temperature (about 20 ° C) and away from the windows for about 7 days (variable)
- Once dried, transfer the salami to a dark seasoning room with cool temperature (about 10 ° C) for about 8-16 weeks
NB . The atmospheric humidity of the biggest salamis, both in the drying phase and in the seasoning phase, must not be too low since an excessively rapid initial dehydration would only affect the external portion and prevent a progressive drying / maturation of the heart of the salamis; if necessary, moisten the skin of the salami during ripening.
Not many people know that the preservability of salamis is determined by the internal fermentation of some microorganisms and by the external colonization of white molds. Salami is a live food and must be treated as such; similarly to wine and cheese, even sausages NEVER cover a season the same as the previous one and this feature requires continuous monitoring and a constant interaction between product and producer. It can be very useful to insert a small portion of mature salami (from the previous year) into the fresh mixture in order to start the correct fermentation of the sausage.
Nutritional characteristics
The salamis are high-calorie foods, high in triglycerides (above all saturated), cholesterol, and sodium chloride (cooking salt); these characteristics make them unsuitable for weight control diets and dietary regimes include hypercholesterolemia and hypertension.
The salamis are raw, therefore they are contraindicated to the diet of the pregnant woman, both for the risk of parasitosis and for that of food poisoning; furthermore, these preserved meats, if commercial, contain nitrites and nitrates, preservative molecules involved in the release of carcinogenic nitrosamines. Still with regard to commercial salamis, we remind you that, if they contain milk powder, they cannot be used in the diet for lactose intolerance.
The salamis are not "foods of this age", since they provide a quantity of energy and fats which are in most cases excessive for the sedentary consumer; they should be eaten in moderation, in small portions and occasionally.
The salamis bring good quantities of high biological value proteins, potassium, iron, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. See the nutritional values of various types of salami
