Cold cuts and food pairings with cheese, mostarda etc.

Cold cuts are products derived from the processing of meat. There are at least 300 different cold cuts in Italy and over 40 of them obtained the PDO and PGI seals. There are also many different ways to make cold cuts.

First of all, which type of meat is used? The great majority of cold cuts are made from pork, but there are also cold cuts made from beef (such as Bresaola), sheep meat, horse meat, goose meat, wild game or even ostrich meat.

And there are many more differences, such as, for instance, aging: each cold cut ages for a different time and there isn’t one rule that fits all. Some cold cuts are cooked, others aren’t. Even smoking and salting methods vary from cold cut to cold cut.

Cold cuts also have some similar features, such as the flavour intensity. A long aging period allows flavours to become more concentrated.

A long-lasting flavour is also a common feature of all cold cuts; as a matter of fact, even the most delicate cold cuts have strong flavours that make them stand out.

Cold cuts can also be spicy, smoked or with a hint of sweetness. They can be more or less sapid and have a different lean-to-fat ratio.

Let’s take a look at the most delicious food pairings that best enhance the features of each cold cut.

Food pairings with cheeses

The cheese-making tradition of our country has no equal in the world. There are almost 500 cheese types in Italy, of which over 300 obtained a PDO, PAT (Traditional Agricultural Food Product) or PGI quality seal. Let’s take a quick look at the different types of cheese.

Cheeses can be made from cow’s milk, ewe’s milk, goat milk, buffalo’s milk or mixed milk; milk can also be treated in different ways and cheeses can be made from raw milk or from milk that was thermised or pasteurised. 

Depending on the percentage of fat, cheeses can be divided in low-fat, semi-fat, fat or double cream. According to the moisture percentage, cheeses can be classified in soft, semi-hard or hard cheeses. Cheeses can also be veined or blue, with a stretched or pressed curd or have more or less eyes. 

As far as aging is concerned, cheeses can be classified in fresh cheeses or cheeses with short, medium or long aging periods.

Pairing cold cuts with cheeses makes a classic starter and platter, but how can we decide which cheese to pair with which cold cut?

Pairing by contrast is always a good idea, since you never get sick of the flavour combination and always end up going for another bite. For example, Mortadella pairs really well with goat cheeses: Mortadella has a sweet and well-rounded flavour, while goat cheeses have an intense and sharp taste, thus complementing each other perfectly.

Bresaola pairs really well with Burrata cheese: Bresaola is lean, salty and aromatic, while Burrata cheese is fatty, enveloping and “milky”. Their places of origin are also contrasting: Valtellina meets Apulia with a surprising outcome.

Let’s talk about spicy cold cuts. To pair them well, we need to find a cheese that is able to live up to the challenge, contrasting their flavour and neutralising the spiciness. Try ‘Nduja with buffalo mozzarella cheese: they taste amazing together.

Cold cuts and Mostarda

There are many different types of Mostarda with very different features. Mostarda can be made from different fruit types and can include mustard or not, which makes the difference between sweet and spicy Mostarda.

Mostarda has in any case a unique flavour which creates a very nice contrast with fatty cold cuts. Let’s take a look at the best combinations. 

Mostarda from Mantua with quinces, refined with sugar and mustard, has a unique taste and a very spicy flavour. It pairs really well with dry-cured Parma ham which has a sweet and delicate taste.

Mostarda from Vicenza contains mustard, too, as well as other fruit types besides quinces. It has a sharp and pungent flavour and an especially creamy consistency, since the flesh of fruit is sifted. It pairs exceptionally well with wild game cold cuts that have an intense and strong taste. Wild game cold cuts are lean with a low fat percentage; they do not melt in the mouth, therefore they should ideally be paired with a soft, creamy and enveloping Mostarda.

Mostarda from Cremona is made from various types of fruit which are left whole or roughly chopped. The flavour range is very broad, but it is the consistency that matters the most and that pairs really well with many cold cuts. Ciauscolo is soft and almost creamy. The combination between this Mostarda and Ciauscolo will leave you speechless.

Mostarda with oranges contains no mustard. The flavour ranges from sweet to bitter; it is complex, deep and long-lasting. It pairs really well with lard which cleanses the palate.

Food pairing with vegetables

Pairing cold cuts with vegetables is always a good idea: it makes your cold cut platter lighter, it cleanses the palate and lets you try out new and original flavour combinations. The possibilities are endless.

Raw vegetables give that crunchy bite and pair really well with all cold cuts which are all more or less soft and enveloping.

Cooked vegetables can be paired with contrasting or similar flavours. As far as pairing by contrast goes, let’s take squash as an example. Squash is sweet and pairs really well with pork jowl or Culatello, which are both flavourful and sapid cold cuts.

In the case of pairing by concordance, turnip greens or broccoli rabe pairs really well with spicy salami: they both have strong and intense flavours which complement and balance each other out very well.

Vegetables packed in vinegar have a prevailing sour taste; they can be paired with fatty cold cuts to balance the sourness out and cleanse the palate. They pair well with salami and exceptionally well with Finocchiona fennel salami.

Pairing cold cuts offers endless, new possibilities. Let’s have some fun experimenting new combinations; when the ingredients are truly delicious, we cannot go wrong.