There are days I really, really love my job. The day my box of Columbus cured meats arrived on my porch was one of those days.
To be fair – I like salami. Pretty much all cured meats are alright with me. However, there’s “alright-I’ll eat it” and there’s “fabulous-I completely love this,” which is how I feel about Columbus products overall. I completely love them.
Let’s start at the very beginning, shall we? Columbus cured meats are Gluten Free, contain no MSG & no Trans Fats. Good salumi never does.
OK, after the rest of the G-Free Foodie crew informaed me that I was gonna have to share, we came to these conclusions:
– the Classic Italian Dry Salami & Toscano are just as they should be, full of pork flavor enhanced by spices and with the right amount of fat without being overly greasy. Loved it.
– the Chorizo Casero is a paprika & garlic knock out, we talked about cooking with it while we were eating it all.
– and then there was the Uncured Peppered Salame from the Columbus All Natural line. Where has this been all my life? We snacked on most of the stick, but I saved enough for a braise in light tomato broth with garlic, olive oil, fresh basil and some roasted red peppers. Tossed with a little Gluten Free buactini, this was possibly one of the top five pasta moments of my life. You should try it right now. Like, yesterday right now.
You say Salumi, I say Salame, let’s work it out over cheese & Salami: what’s it called?
Salame: Dry-cured, fermented meat encased in a natural or synthetic casing. Salame can be made from many different types of meats like pork, beef or wild boar. (All Columbus salames are made exclusively of pork.) Salame is also spelled Salami; however, Salame is the traditional Italian spelling
Salumi: Meats usually made of pork that are salt-cured and fermented but not necessarily encased. Salumi comes from the Italian word salare, meaning “to salt.” Salame, Prosciutto and Coppa are examples of traditional salumi.
So, only some Salumi are Salame, but all Salame are Salumi – get it? Like rectangles & squares.
Happy Eating – KC
