briciole

salume

charcuterie

The word salume may remind you of salame (salami). Salame is a type of salume. Salumi (plural) is the generic word that we use to refer to salame and other cured meat products.

The web site of the Istituto Valorizzazione Salumi Italiani (IVSI) is available in both Italian and English and has a lot of useful information on the different types of salumi and how they are prepared. IVSI is "a voluntary and non-profit Consortium, that was established in 1985 to meet the growing requests made by consumers for more information while also aiming at enhancing the image of Italian processed meat products, by promoting this gastronomic heritage." It is, indeed, a rich — and delicious — heritage.

I grew up eating a variety of salumi. Every year, my father and my aunt Lucia would purchase half a pig and we received part of it raw, in the shape of braciole (chops), salsicce (sausages), etc., and part of it as salumi. Besides well-known prosciutto and salame, there are other salumi.  On this page, there is a list of salumi, divided into crudi (raw) and cotti (cooked). I suggest that you avoid reading this on an empty stomach. Note that bresaola is the only one of the products listed that is made with beef (the others are made with pork).

Salumi are sold in a salumeria by a salumiere, as mentioned in a previous post. You also buy formaggi (cheeses) at a salumeria. The smell in such a store is heavenly. In the salumi department, my top three favorites are: prosciutto crudo, bresaola and salsiccia secca (dried sausage). The latter is something my aunt Lucia had. You could eat one all for yourself, thickly-sliced, accompanied with fresh bread.

The photo shows one of the panels of the lower basin of the  Fontana Maggiore, the gorgeous fountain that dominates Perugia's main square. The relief portrays the month of Dicembre (December), by way of showing the slaughtering of a pig (here there is an explanation of that and all the other diptychs that form the lower basin of the fountain). Every part of the pig's body would be used, not just the meat.

A final linguistic note. Calling someone a salame is not a compliment, much as we like the actual product. Salame, referring to a person, in fact, means silly, simpleton.

Many thanks to Michael for his word suggestion and also for sending me the link to this interesting article on salumi in the East Bay Area.

Hear me pronounce the words on the salume audio file [mp3] or go to the salume audio page for more listening options.

prosciutto

The following few lines about prosciutto have been inspired by: Jeremy of DoBianchi with his post and photo essay on prosciutto di San Daniele, and Susan of Food Blogga with her delicious recipe for Wild Arugula, Cantaloupe, and Watermelon Salad with Prosciutto and Blue Cheese.

As I mentioned in a previous post, prosciutto is one of the two items that I buy as soon as possible after arriving in Italy. My husband likes to open the package of prosciutto (usually San Daniele) and eat slice after slice of it over granetti. The other famous Italian prosciutto crudo (raw) is prosciutto di Parma. When we visit my family in Perugia, my mother may buy prosciutto nostrano (local, i.e., produced in Umbria). Besides prosciutto crudo (of many other types, besides the ones mentioned) there is also prosciutto cotto (cooked). Speck is a special kind of prosciutto, disossato e affumicato (boned and smoked) typical of Alto Adige.

I have a few bites to share that include prosciutto. Besides prosciutto e melone (with cantaloupe), a classic summer dish in Italy, when meloni are plentiful and flavorful, the pairing with fresh fichi (figs) is also quite nice. My favorite way of eating prosciutto is with torta al testo.

According to my memory, my father and my aunt used to purchase half a pig every year, and we would then get raw braciole (pork chops) and salsicce (sausages), and cured meat: prosciutto, spalla (shoulder), capocollo, etc. We had a special rack to keep the prosciutto ready to be sliced. Besides prosciutto e melone for dinner, we would eat pane e prosciutto as a snack (plain bread, prosciutto and nothing else). I took all this for granted, as it had been part of my life for as long as I could remember.

There are a few interesting Italian expressions that include prosciutto:

• levarsi la sete col prosciutto (literally, to quench one's thirst with prosciutto): to do something that makes things worse (since prosciutto, being salty, is bound to make one thirstier)
• avere gli orecchi foderati di prosciutto (literally, to have one's ears covered with prosciutto): to be deaf, or to pretend to be deaf
• avere gli occhi foderati di prosciutto (literally, to have one's eyes covered with prosciutto): to be blind to reality, to obvious things.

Hear me pronounce the words and expressions on the prosciutto audio file [mp3] or go to the prosciutto audio page for more listening options.