Dry-Cured Sausage with Mold

Many people who have tried unusual sorts of cheese with mold taste, fell in love with this delicacy. But in the countries of Europe you can find sausages covered with mignonette or greenish mold too. How would you like this? Would you like to try it? It may be of interest to you how those sausages are cooked and whether it is dangerous to eat them. These are dry-cured salami sausages; they are named salame in Italy. Gourmets all over the world appreciate them above everything because these sausages are made only of high-quality meat.

The best Italian dry-cured sausage is considered to be salame di Felino. This sausage is made in the province of Parma, region Emilia Romagna. And to be more exact, it is made in the small town of Felino (about 8 thousand inhabitants) in the Apennines, near Parma. It has a special climatic condition as regards humidity and temperature which allows to use very little salt in producing these best quality sausages.

Dry-cured sausages are stored in cellars where it is always cool. Sausages become covered with light-green mold after about a month of storage. The meat inside it shrinks considerably. And in about three months more the mold becomes grayish and very thick. It means that the process of getting ready passed successfully and the sausage can be eaten. The longer the sausage is stored the harder it becomes.

There is a salame di Felino museum in this small town. It exhibits ancient implements which were used for making sausages. Also you can see how sausages are getting ready and try this wonderful delicacy. Sausages are made of local pork only. They use meat of shoulders and stomach which is called pancetta.

White wine, whole black pepper peas and Italian spicy herbs are added to roughly minced meat. Salame di Felino is a sausage without any chemical additives.

It is difficult to describe the taste of this delicacy, but we’ll try. Salame di Felino has a delightful delicious taste with light mushroom smell with a soft note of nuts in the aftertaste. It is a remarkable appetizer. It goes well with cheese and the local red wine Lambrusco.

Some photos and information are taken from the Felino municipal official site, PR.