Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Salame di Mugnano – Tasting

IMG_2663 The Salame di Mugnano is finally ready! It took longer than I thought it was going to, but sometimes these things have a mind of their own. This was hung Jan 1st after smoking, and it out April 4th, so 3 months. I kept it in the curing chamber this long because I wanted to achieve the same texture as the ones I ate in Italy last summer; pretty firm. It lost 42% of its weight over these 3 months.
This was "head to head" salame making between Scott at Sausage Debauchery and I. We thought through this together and decided to both make our salami then trade to see how interpretations could vary the results.
IMG_2654 Here’s the salame hanging after its 3 month vacation in the curing chamber.

Note how basically no mold grew on the outside. This is due in great part to the fact that the salame was smoked.
IMG_2663 Nice picture of the slices salame. It’s nice and red fro the peperoncino powder added to the paste. The one in Italy wasn’t actually this bright red.
IMG_2662 Closeup. Because it’s beautiful!
As far as the flavor goes it’s delicious, but it’s pretty far from the one I ate in Italy. It has a nice spicy tang and the smoke is barely noticeable. The salt level is nice. It has a really nice chew to it being a bit drier than many of my past salami. Sliced thin this would be pretty good in a sandwich as well. It MIGHT have a little too much whole pepper. I know after I eat more of it. Quantity of fat is good.
If I grade this as a salame in general, I’d give it a solid A, but as a Mugnano I’d have to give it a C-. It’s too spicy (it’s not very spicy, but the Mugnano I had in Italy had a bare bare tingle in the throat), not smokey enough, and the grain needs to be a little bigger.
Would I make it again as it is? Yeah! Definitely.
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17 comments:

  1. scottApril 6, 2011 at 5:37 AM

    I am to blame for it's spicyness. Sorry about that. Not Mugnano, but, phenomenal nonetheless.

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  2. JasonmolinariApril 6, 2011 at 6:33 AM

    I agree Scott...on both those points:)

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  3. Portland Charcuterie ProjectApril 6, 2011 at 11:37 AM

    Beautiful!!

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  4. JasonmolinariApril 6, 2011 at 11:40 AM

    thanks PCP

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  5. jimmyApril 6, 2011 at 6:36 PM

    looks awesome Jason.

    Amateur question here - what do you mean by the size of the grain?

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  6. DaveApril 6, 2011 at 6:40 PM

    Those look awesome. Thanks for the tip on the fermented deer sausage from sausage debauchery. Did the smoke from these affect the other things in your cure fridge at all?

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  7. JasonmolinariApril 6, 2011 at 7:23 PM

    thanks Jimmy. I mean the size of the grind of the meat.

    Dave: after smoking the salame i put it in the chamber in a tupperware box for 24 or 48 hours, then i hung it. The chamber smelled great, but it did not seem to affect the other stuff in there at all.

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  8. MarcApril 7, 2011 at 11:16 AM

    Looks fantastic! Making this stuff so it's delicious is hard enough never-mind trying to replicate something you tasted months ago!
    Question: Why would one choice to use belly versus back fat in the composition?

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  9. JasonmolinariApril 7, 2011 at 3:59 PM

    Marc, thanks. Recreating flavors is difficult, if not impossible for something like cured meats that rely on molds and bacteria and environmental conditions which exist only in the location they're made...but I try to get as close as possible:)

    The belly and the fat has different melting points and consistencies. I've used them pretty much interchangeably, but an experiment of the same salame made with the 2 different fats side by side would be an interesting experiment to see if the flavor and texture are affected much.

    I would use whichever you have available.

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  10. JefferyApril 7, 2011 at 8:03 PM

    This looks amazing! Love the chili, smoke, hang thang! Great job!

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  11. JasonmolinariApril 7, 2011 at 10:46 PM

    Thanks jefferey. It's pretty awesome

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  12. AviApril 8, 2011 at 5:04 PM

    Hello Jason,

    I have been following your blog for sometime....and believe me I have learned alot. Great picks..
    Thanks

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  13. JasonmolinariApril 8, 2011 at 5:42 PM

    Thanks Avi. I'm glad to help

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  14. Ken AlbalaApril 9, 2011 at 8:55 AM

    Wow, It's gorgeous. Why judge it by what someone in Italy does? Actually I thought smoking salame would prevent the cure as well as the mold. Now I need to try this.

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  15. JasonmolinariApril 9, 2011 at 1:02 PM

    Hey ken, i'm only judging by the Italian one because my goal was to recreate what I ate there. Even this "failure" is delicious:)
    Smoking will not affect the action of nitrates and nitrites or salt. Definitely try it.

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  16. Kenth BorglundApril 10, 2011 at 12:34 PM

    looks nice

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  17. Hungarian GipsyMay 21, 2011 at 6:57 AM

    Mugnano del Cardinale, the Italian province of Avellino, an ancient village founded around 1300 at the feet of the Partenio Mountains, an area characterized by light winds that blow constantly, avoiding stagnant air and favouring the aging of the product that also acquires the aromas and fragrances transported by the wind that blows through beech, oak and chestnut forests.

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