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Meat from Italy

Soppressata di Calabria DOPSoppressata di Calabria

Lean pork from the shoulder, ham and fillet is minced medium with back fat, salt, black pepper and often wine and red pepper, then stuffed into pig casing, hand-tied and slightly flattened. It matures naturally for at least 45 days into a red, slightly flattened salami whose slice is compact and tends to soft.

Fully documentedMeat45 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification fixes the cuts, the fat share and the minimum maturing time, but not the salt or pepper amounts.
Lean pork from shoulder, ham and filletPigs of large breeds raised in Calabria from no later than four months of age[masaf]
Pork back fat (lardo)4–15 % of the meatThe 1998 text gave 12–15 %, from the front of the loin near the capocollo[masaf][disc1998]
Salt and black pepper[masaf]
Wine and natural flavourings[masaf]
Hot red pepper or hot pepper cream (piccante), or sweet red pepper (dolce)Left out in the white version[masaf]
Additives within legal limits (optional)Caseinate, ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate, sodium lactate, nitrate and nitrite[disc1998]

Total time across the recorded steps: 45 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
0–3 °C

What changes: Starting material: chilled pork lean and back fat

Step 1 of 6
Chill the lean and back fat
Time
Not documented
Temperature
0–3 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: chilled lean and back fat, never frozen.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
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

Lean pork from the shoulder, ham and fillet is minced medium with back fat, salt, black pepper and often wine and red pepper, then stuffed into pig casing, hand-tied and slightly flattened. It matures naturally for at least 45 days into a red, slightly flattened salami whose slice is compact and tends to soft. Made in 6 steps over 45 days. The longest step, mature naturally, takes at least 45 days (Ministero dell'agricoltura).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 45 daysSet[masaf][disc1998]Mature naturally
Temperature0–3 °CSet[disc1998]Chill the lean and back fat

What makes this one different

Soppressata di Calabria is pressed into a slightly flattened shape and uses Calabrian heavy pigs, lean from the shoulder, ham and fillet, and 4–15 % back fat. It must mature naturally for at least 45 days.

Related ferments

Variants

  • PiccanteHot red pepper or hot pepper cream in the mix.
  • DolceSweet red pepper.
  • BiancaNo red pepper.

Safety

In one study of Southern Italian sausages, homemade soppressata and salsiccia had more biogenic amines than industrial ones, most likely because industrial makers use starter cultures. The specification allows nitrate and nitrite only within legal limits. 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

MASAF says the first sure written record of cured-meat making in Calabria is the 1691 book Della Calabria Illustrata, where Padre Giovanni Fiore da Cropani lists "Suppressate" among the salted meats. The name was registered as a DOP by Commission Regulation (EC) No 134/98 of 20 January 1998.

Starter
The sources we found do not say how its fermentation begins.
Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [wsu-sausage] Washington State University Extension, Homemade Meat, Poultry, and Game Sausages (EB1661)gov
  2. [masaf] Ministero dell'agricoltura, della sovranità alimentare e delle foreste (MASAF), Salumi DOP, Soppressata di Calabria (product specification summary)gov
  3. [disc1998] Disciplinare di produzione della Soppressata di Calabria DOP (Reg. CE 134/98), text reproduced by agraria.orgspec
  4. [leggio2012] Leggio A., Belsito E.L., De Marco R. et al. 2012, Dry fermented sausages of Southern Italy, a comparison of free amino acids and biogenic amines between industrial and homemade products, Journal of Food Sciencepaper
  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, pp. 6-7 (Soppressata di Calabria (PDO)), read via the EU Publications Office cellarspec