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Meat from Italy

Salsiccia di Calabria DOPSalsiccia di Calabria

Salsiccia di Calabria is a matured pork sausage from Calabria, protected as a PDO. Minced shoulder, haunch and rib meat with 6 to 20 % fat is seasoned with salt, black pepper, chilli or sweet pepper, wine and spices, stuffed into natural pork casing, twisted into a chain or a U, and matured for at least 30 days.

Fully documentedMeat30 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification fixes the share of each cut and the fat range, but not the amounts of salt, pepper or spice.
Pork shoulderat least 50 %[masaf-salsiccia]
Pork haunchat most 15 %[masaf-salsiccia]
Pork rib cut (sottocostola)at most 50 %[masaf-salsiccia]
Pork fat6–20 % per kilogram of processed meatFrozen meat may not be used[masaf-salsiccia]
Salt and whole or ground black pepper[masaf-salsiccia]
Strong or mild red chilli pepper or red bell pepper (Capsicum), ground or as a puréeLabels may say strong, mild or white (no pepper)[masaf-salsiccia]
Wine, spices and natural aromas[masaf-salsiccia]
Dextrose, sucrose, ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate, potassium nitrate, sodium nitrite and starter cultures (all optional)Listed as permitted additions; the specification gives no amounts[masaf-salsiccia]
Starteroptional starter cultures (the specification lists them among the permitted additions)

Total time across the recorded steps: 30 days

Start
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0–3 °C

What changes: Shoulder, haunch and rib meat are minced with pork fat

Step 1 of 4
Select and mince the meat and fat
Time
Not documented
Temperature
0–3 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The pigs are heavy Italian breeds reared and slaughtered in Calabria, at least 140 kg on average at slaughter. Frozen meat is not allowed.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
medium grain
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Salsiccia di Calabria is a matured pork sausage from Calabria, protected as a PDO. Minced shoulder, haunch and rib meat with 6 to 20 % fat is seasoned with salt, black pepper, chilli or sweet pepper, wine and spices, stuffed into natural pork casing, twisted into a chain or a U, and matured for at least 30 days. Made in 4 steps over 30 days. The longest step, mature, takes at least 30 days (MASAF 2011).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 30 daysSet[masaf-salsiccia]Mature
Temperature0–3 °CSet[masaf-salsiccia]Select and mince the meat and fat

What makes this one different

Salsiccia di Calabria is set apart by its shape, a hand-twisted chain of 40 to 80 cm or a U, and by its mix of shoulder, haunch and rib meat. It is matured for only 30 days or more, a short time next to Calabria's soppressata and capocollo.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Strong, mild or whiteLabelled by whether strong or mild red chilli or sweet pepper, or no pepper, went into the mix.
  • Cylinder for slicingSausage sold only sliced may be stuffed into edible collagen casing as a cylinder 40 to 80 cm long.

Safety

The specification sets no pH or water limits. In one study of southern Italian salsiccia, the homemade sausages held more free biogenic amines than industrial ones made with starter cultures. The steps here describe controlled production, not a home method. Washington State University Extension does not recommend making dry sausage at home, because S. aureus toxin can form if fermentation is not rigidly controlled.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The 1998 registration summary dates the first written reference to pork processing in Calabria to the seventeenth century, in a work it names as "Della Calabria Illustrata". The name was registered as a PDO by Commission Regulation (EC) No 134/98 of 20 January 1998. That summary describes the salsiccia as hand-twisted into a chain and matured in a short to average time. The 2011 specification text also allows the U shape and sets 30 days as the minimum maturing time.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [wsu-sausage] Washington State University Extension, Homemade Meat, Poultry, and Game Sausages (EB1661)gov
  2. [eu-salsiccia-2015] European Commission 2015, Publication of an amendment application, Salsiccia di Calabria PDO (IT-PDO-0217-1568-19.10.2011), with single document, Official Journal C 77, 5.3.2015 (CELEX 52015XC0305(05)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec
  3. [masaf-salsiccia] MASAF, Disciplinare di produzione della DOP 'Salsiccia di Calabria' (2011 text), Arts. 3-6gov
  4. [eu-salumi-calabria-1998] Application for registration of Salumi di Calabria (Soppressata, Capocollo, Salsiccia and Pancetta) under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, summary of the specification, as held in the eAmbrosia register (IT_0017_1568_SUM_EN)spec
  5. [eu-reg-134-1998] Commission Regulation (EC) No 134/98 of 20 January 1998 supplementing the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin, Official Journal L 15, 21.1.1998 (lists Salsiccia di Calabria (PDO))spec
  6. [leggio2012] Leggio A., Belsito E.L., De Marco R., Di Gioia M.L., Liguori A., Siciliano C., Spinella M. 2012, Dry fermented sausages of Southern Italy, a comparison of free amino acids and biogenic amines between industrial and homemade products, Journal of Food Science 77(4):S170-S175 (abstract)paper