ITALIAN SPICY COLD CUTS: VENTRICINA SALAMI AND MUCH MORE

Cold cuts and sausages are part of our country’s farming tradition. Meat was a precious good and wasting it was out of the question. Making cold cuts and sausages was a way to preserve meat in a natural way and salting, drying and aging techniques evolved over time, until they became an actual art form.

The best products are still manufactured the traditional way, according to customs passed down from generation to generation.

The Italian peninsula is home to many master butchers. From Speck to ‘Nduja, from dry-cured ham to Finocchiona fennel seed salami - each region has its own sliceable treasures. We could write a book about each cold cut and sausage (careful, they’re not necessarily the same thing), but let’s focus here on spicy cold cuts as we move South, where red hot chilli peppers grow under the sun.

A journey through the cold cut tradition in Southern Italy

Spicy Ventricina salami

Ventricina is a traditional salami from Abruzzo and Molise, but it’s very widespread in Lazio, too. The name Ventricina is reminiscent of the word ‘ventre’, the pork bowels which were used to fill and preserve the meat mixture. What exactly is spicy Ventricina salami?

Ventricina is a kind of salami which is now considered one of the finest, since, unlike in the past, it is now only made from the most refined pork cuts. The meat is coarsely minced and seasoned with a spice mix as well as spicy red hot chilli pepper, either as powder or concentrate. The mixture is then left to rest, so that all flavours can bind together, and then it is filled and tied.

The Ventricina salamis are then hung on rods, where they dry from thirty to sixty days. Once they have lost all their water content, they age from three to seven months.

Each master butcher has his/her own seasoning recipe, i.e. the aroma mix used to enhance the meat flavour. The difficult thing is finding the right balance between such intense flavours. The butchery Bisesti from Pomezia uses, for instance, only Italian spicy red hot chilli peppers and meat of pigs which are reared and slaughtered in Italy. Bisesti’s Ventricina salami is very tasty, but its flavour is not too spicy and does not overpower the delicious meat flavours and aromas.  

Ventricina salami has a very beautiful colour, ranging from red to orange, due to the high content of red hot chilli pepper. Ventricina salami can be served on a cold cut platter, it can be used as a sandwich filling or to prepare pasta sauces, like some kind of quick ragout! Try to replace pork jowl with Ventricina salami to make an alternative, delicious Amatriciana sauce. 

Aged Soppressata 

The aged Soppressata sausage is a traditional cold cut from Calabria. The finest pork cuts are used for this sausage, too, such as the pork ham and leg, which are coarsely minced. The meat is then seasoned with salt, black pepper, herbs or red hot chilli pepper, and is then left to age for several months.

According to the most traditional aging method, a fire has to be lit at all times in the aging rooms’ fireplaces, in order to obtain the Soppressata’s signature smoky flavour. This is something that the Monte Corda butchery, located in the province of Catanzaro, still does in a slightly more modern way: their Soppressata has that natural smoky note which is obtained by burning olive or beech wood. Only natural casings and prime-quality Italian ingredients, which are processed by hand, are used for this sausage. Preservatives are a big no-no.

This salami’s spiciness is given by the bell pepper sauce which leaves an intense, but rounded flavour. Apart from using it as a sandwich filling or diced up as an appetiser, aged Soppressata can also be used to make vegetable fillings together with other ingredients.

Slice it very thinly and mix it with garlic, parsley, slightly stale bread and grated Pecorino cheese to fill zucchini blossoms, bell peppers, tomatoes or any other vegetable.

Calabrian Spianata Sausage

Spianata is one of the most traditional sausages from Calabria. Its name comes from the fact that this sausage is squashed to reduce its diameter and make the aging period go faster. The meat is filled in natural casings, pressed between two wooden planks and then left to age for at least four months.

Selected and finely-ground pork, diced lard, aromas and red hot chilli pepper create a unique harmony of flavours. Calabrian red hot chilli pepper is very intense, but its flavour does not numb the palate. On the contrary, it has a complex but harmonious flavour, which does not leave an aftertaste. Once again, the Monte Corda delicatessen shop proves to be one of the best companies to make this cold cut, since only Italian pork and the finest meat cuts are used.

Calabrian Spianata sausage can be served on platters, with sandwiches or can be used in many recipes. Cut into stripes, you can use it to enrich pasta, pizza or also quiches. Its intense aroma is bound to impress!

'Nduja from Spilinga

‘Nduja is probably one of the most famous and beloved spicy sausages. It surely is the most beloved spreadable sausage and its enveloping texture makes it ideal for bruschetta and toasts. L’Artigiano della ‘Nduja - the ‘Nduja craftsman - is a family-run business which still makes the best ‘Nduja sausage in Spilinga, only using Italian meat, prime-quality raw materials and red hot chilli pepper from the Poro mount.

This sausage’s story is very old and is rooted in farming traditions and in the principle that food should not be wasted. We know that every bit of pork but the oink is eaten, and skilful master butchers managed to turn scraps into a delicious product.

Trimmings from other cuts are mixed to create a very flavourful paste with a high fat content. Natural casings are used for this sausage; “Crespone” is the finest and thinnest casing of them all. Aging lasts from forty to ninety days, but the meat does not dry out and the sausage stays moist thanks to the high fat content.

The texture is unmistakable, soft and creamy. The flavour is intense; you can feel the spiciness, but it’s not too overpowering. Let’s be honest; it’s not something for fine palates, but its flavour is truly exceptional thanks to the meat quality, the processing methods and the red hot chilli pepper.

The best red hot chilli pepper for the ‘Nduja sausage is the red hot chilli pepper from the Poro mount; its pods are not very fleshy and it dries naturally during the summer months. It has the ideal degree of spiciness for cold cuts and it grows close to Spilinga, which is a must for the company’s short supply chain.

Here we have some of the most famous Italian spicy sausages, but each place has its own tradition. These sausages are traditional local products but they are famous and beloved abroad, too. They are versatile and, although they contain red hot chilli pepper, they do not have an overpowering spicy flavour - if they are made properly, of course.

If, upon tasting, you can only feel the spiciness, it means that ingredients are not well-balanced. You need to feel the heat of course, but it should not be overpowering.