Creating the perfect salami is a family affair, the whole process from planning, curing and ultimately enjoying and sharing the end product brings family and friends together to experience the richness of culture and tradition of homemade foods.
The Bovezza family have been perfecting the art of homemade salami making for 35 years. Rosa Bovezza, so passionate about homemade foods and Italian traditions, intuitively follows the seasons, always planning ahead, growing produce and watching the rise and fall of the lunar cycles is integrated in to everyday life. So it goes without saying that excitement is in the air when the highly anticipated call at 5.30am from the butcher to invite first dibs at freshly delivered pork and being able to select the perfect pieces in preparation for the salami making process. Rosa’s tip: finding the right butcher is important. Rosa attests her ongoing salami success to having developed a long standing relationship with her butchers and having always been well looked after and provided with high quality pork from the same butcher for 35 years.
With the best pieces of pork leg and shoulders selected, it's straight back home for an early start, relishing the brisk winter air. Once the cutting and mincing of the pork is complete, it is all about adding the flavour and thoroughly mixing through the meat by hand. Rosa’s tip: the pepperoni salsa and chilli added to the mixture has been prepared months in advance by drying and crushing home grown chilli peppers and transforming a few boxes of bell peppers into salsa.
This year the Bovezza family have decided to go with four different recipes. The first being a batch of the traditional recipe from Rosa’s home town of Viggiano with no salsa and whole peppercorns. The second a mild, salsa flavoured batch with the third the same, however with a small amount of chilli flakes added just to give a slight spiciness to the salami. The fourth has Frank’s influence on the batch with extra hot chilli and extra hot pepper sauce added in the mix that makes the Calabrese side of the family very happy. With the combination of experience, skill and love, the meat is expertly prepared and left to rest for 6 hours.
Meanwhile, the off cuts of pork are made into other traditional delicacies such as melting the pork fat to create crackling, boiled skin, bones and trotters served with lemon wedges and sugo made with pork polpette with pasta for dinner. Of course there was homemade wine and cheese on the table as well.
The fun then begins with filling the sausages; pricking, probing, pushing, squishing, filling and tying is all part of the process here. Depending on how much vino has been drunk throughout the day will indicate how humorous this part of salami making process will be. Rosa’s tip: much laughter, joking and a happy atmosphere helps make great salami.
It is imperative to select a cold air tight room for hanging and curing the salami, like a garage. The curing process will develop over the next 5-6 weeks. Extra care is required in the first week to ensure that windy drafts do not affect the drying process. Wiping down the curing salami a few times over the weeks may be required as they excrete a mouldy residue during the drying process. This can be done by wiping the salami down with wine-soaked cloth. Rosa’s tip: to finish, wipe the salami one last time with a wine soaked cloth and a final wipe over with an extra virgin oil soaked cloth. This helps to keep the salami moist.
After they curing process, the Bovezza family now vacuum pack the salami in batches and store them in the fridge as this will preserve the cured salami for many months to come. Traditionally this was kept in oil or in melted pig fat.
The labour of love now turns into pride and joy when eating and sharing with family and friends.
~ Salami Sessions ~
Only a few spots left for the Salami Sessions which are being held by the Melbourne Salami Festa at the beautiful Somerset Crossing Vineyard in Seymour. Book your spot now or you'll have to wait another year before salami season returns!
~ Mortadella Sessions ~
We're also proud to be invited by the Melbourne Salami Festa and Ombra teams to co-faciltate "The Mortadella Sessions"! This will be a truly unique event so don't miss out! For all the details please click HERE
~ Other Food and Beverage Courses and Workshops ~
For a full list of other various food and beverage making courses/workshops held at our stores, please click the link to our website -> http://www.homemakeit.com.au/pages/food-beverage-courses
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