Salami - Ingredients of Salami

Ingredients of Salami

A traditional salame, with its typical marbled appearance, is made from one or more of the following meats:

• pork, or less commonly, especially in Kosher and Halal salami, beef (particularly veal), venison, poultry (mostly turkey because of dietary limitations, but also goose salami is traditional in some areas of Northern Italy), donkey and horse, also swordfish and sometimes shark in southern parts of Japan.

Additional ingredients may include:

• salt
• spices, usually white pepper
• garlic
• minced fat
• wine
• various herbs
• vinegar

The raw meat mixture is usually allowed to ferment for a day, then the mixture is either stuffed into an edible natural or inedible cellulose casing and hung to cure. Heat treatment to about 40 °C (104°F) may be used to accelerate further fermentation and start the drying process. Higher temperatures (about 60 °C (140°F)) are used to stop the fermentation when the desired pH is reached, but the product is not fully cooked (75 °C (167°F) or higher). The casings are often treated with an edible mold (Penicillium) culture as well. The mold is desired as it imparts flavor, helps the drying process and prevents spoilage during the curing process.