The weather is cold. There is a slight wood-fired smell in the air. It must be Salami making season! As every good wog boy knows, this time of year is the time we all make our salamis. Why now you ask? It’s the climate; the salamis need the cold air to be able to cure correctly. Also, you need a drafty shed, one which you can light a fire and leave it for a few hours so the salamis have that wonderful wood-fired aroma.
This year, my girlfriend experienced her first wog family salami making occasion. It was great to share the day with her. I wasn’t sure that she would enjoy the sights and smells, but other than the off cuts bag, J got her hands dirty and that makes her a “made woman”, as far as salami making goes, an honorary wog girl.
With J there, we got to relive some of the olden days when grandfathers ruled the salami making process. Mum retold stories about the old days back in the village where on a weekly basis, in the freezing hills of southern Italy, her grandfather worked as a professional salami maker, selling his skills throughout the village to whoever wanted the best salamis that year. He was very well respected and compensated for his skills. My dad’s grandfather was a notch lower on the salami professional’s scale, but he did not charge, he only worked for family and close friends.
I was reminded the old days when as children, we weren’t allowed to “interfere” with the process. The thought that we might spoil the meat and ruin a batch of salami was always on my grandfather’s mind. “Keep those kids out of here” (in Italian of course) he would shout. We just wanted to see what the fuss was about and get our hands into the raw meat. Surely we could prick the salamis with the needle? Even that was a fine art, do that wrong and you could ruin them as well. Nowadays, I want my kids to join in as much as they can. The 9 yo came for a quick peek but wasn’t very impressed. The 6 yo was more adventurous early but he couldn’t stomach the sight of the intestines. Next year, I’m certain that they’ll participate a little more, or is that just wishful thinking?
Anyway, we now have 23 kilos of great looking sausages, suprasatas, cappacollo and pancetta hanging in the garage, being smoked with the finest, aromatic timber dad could find at the nearest building site, the cold temps doing their bit for the process and also filling the house with wonderful aromas. (In the old days, we used to make about 60-70 kilos).
It was a great day, 4 or 5 weeks and I’ll be eating them. Yippee!!!!
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7 comments:
i love salami. you're lucky your gf was into it. i have a friend who had a really good thing going with his gf until... christmas pudding season came along. she drank all the brandy and then cut off the tip of her finger with the big knife while chopping the dried fruit. she bled into the suet, which couldn't be rinsed. so then they just decided to put in extra marachino cherries to add a bit more red to cover up the blood.
fair to say, it all came out in a huge argument new year's eve down at the queenscliffe hotel. he's drunk about a slab of beer on top of a big seafood bbq; she flirted with another guy she met while getting the next round at the bar. he'd made mention on her bandaged finger and made some witty, suggestive comment. they fought out in the car park, their friends thought it would get physical, intervened, and he ended up walking home, on the wrong side of the road, spewed up into the ti tree scrub on the side of the road, and the next day they were just no longer "together"
so, it's really important that food things go well. you can tell a lot about people by how they deal with food and all manner of situations and "iss-ews"
ps can i come next year and help, or would that annoy your gf?
she might feel threatened, but it sounds great
Yes, food prep is very important, you should have seen the way we were so co-ordinated. Balls of meat were feed through, Intestines were slipped on to the funnel and we watched the skins fill and get longer and harder. Very sensual experience for both of us.
Unfortunately, my parents were only 3 feet away, so we couldn't make with the comments.
Mums place smells of this wonderful mix of salami meat and open wood fire smoke. Just magnificent.
That's a lot of salami. Sounds like a good family tradition. I'm here via Michele.
Capeman, I am so glad Michele sent me. My Italian husband would LOVE all your salamis!
Italians make the best food!
Michele sent me today.
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