Well today was the big day, and I am still alive! It was time to taste my homemade salami that I made in early August.
It had been curing in the laundry for the last four weeks in a nice humid and cool environment.
I took it down from where I had it stored. As you can see it was covered in white mould which I have read helps develop the flavours.
After removing the stocking, it looked like this.
Nice marbling and it was quite firm. Not as hard as beef jerky, with a slight spring in the meat.
I sliced it thinly and removed the casing. It had a deep red colour which is a good sign that it is cured correctly. It had a nice even fat content. There was no green tinge or off smells, so it was on with the tasting.
Now to be honest, I was a bit nervous at first. I had read of food poisoning if it wasn’t cured properly and was a bit worried.
However nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I popped a piece into my mouth. It had a wonderful flavour of pepper and chili, with a slight hint of fennel. It was one of the best salami that I had tasted.
It is not a very moist dry cured meat, like other small goods that I have tried, however it was exactly like the samples we tried during the salami making class. That was very encouraging.
I waited a few minutes to make sure I wasn’t ill, then I offered some to Kim and Ben. They loved it, and asked when I would be making more! I will see if I can pop up to Queen Victoria Markets tomorrow and buy a kit. Of course it all depends on the weather as it has to stay at around 15°C to cure. I might have to hang them in the cheese fridge.
Anyway, I vacuum packed the remainder so that it wouldn’t cure any longer and have stored it in the fridge.
I will crack open some more over the weekend. I can honestly say that I will be making more of this delicious preserved meat again in the very near future.
Success has never tasted so sweet!
Just curious – is there any issue with potential cross-contamination (either with microbes or off-flavours) with keeping both curing meat and cheese in the cheese fridge?
Not sure Kelly. I will have to do some research.
Great job Gav, being of an Italian background I used to love as a kid getting a taste of a freshly cut homemade salami, especially pan fried on some home made bread, yumoh!
Cheers Phil. I will have to pan fry some over the weekend, or use it in some pasta sauce!
My mouth is watering from here. I am so glad your first foray into preserved meat has been a success. It won’t be long until you’ll have prosciutto, salted hams, salami and more to serve up beside your cheeses, pickels and more. 🙂 Well done.
Thanks Jessie!
This looks like alot of fun Gavin. I would love to try and make this.
It is great fun Erin. There a quite a few classes that you can attend to learn, or just adopt an Italian Nona in your area. I am sure she would be able to teach you!
Looks professional great job.
looks good enough to eat Gav. 🙂 good job.